‘Shelf-made IPO’

Financial services are a heavily regulated sector. Companies cannot simply roll out a new way to lend money without regulators checking that everything is above board. What if they could test those ideas before going through the full process of taking them to market? That is where regulatory sandboxes come in. 

What happened? Egypt’s Financial Regulatory Authority (FRA), the government agency that regulates non-banking financial services, has granted preliminary approval for two projects to join its regulatory sandbox. 

The first is from WeLend, working with Tamweely—the micro-lender Egypt’s e-finance acquired in September—which joined the sandbox to test its AI-powered credit assessment tool that uses financial and operational data to evaluate the creditworthiness of small and medium-sized businesses. The second is from Roa’ya Online, which wants to use a simulated stock market and gamified lessons to teach people aged 15–35 how investing works.

Explain like I'm new here: Egypt launched the FRA sandbox in 2025 to give companies developing new non-bank financial products a controlled environment to test their ideas before taking them to the wider market. In its first year, the sandbox received applications for about 49 projects. The latest approvals bring the total number of projects with preliminary approval to 11.

The appeal is that regulators can understand new technologies before they become widespread, and fintechs can test products without navigating every uncertainty.

Kenya has spent the past year trying to bring crypto companies under its watch. Since July, it has released rules for local and foreign operators to follow. Those rules came into effect on November 4.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) supports Kenya's push to regulate crypto. It just thinks some of the rules could do more harm than good. The IMF has asked Kenya to reconsider those requirements that would force stablecoin issuers to keep part of the money backing their coins in local banks.

Explain like I'm new here: Kenya spent years watching its crypto market grow without a dedicated law to regulate it. In 2025, the country passed the Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Act, bringing crypto businesses under formal oversight.

The next step was deciding how those businesses should operate. Kenya proposed rules covering everything from licences to the money companies must hold to protect their customers.

Now, the IMF is questioning some of the provisions.

What's the problem? Stablecoins are cryptocurrencies designed to hold a steady value, often backed by US dollars or other assets. Kenya wants issuers to keep some of those reserves in the country.

But the IMF argued that foreign issuers should be allowed to hold their reserves abroad, provided they meet strict safeguards. Requiring them to move money into Kenyan banks could discourage them from entering the market. On November 5, Nigeria also followed a similar logic, requiring foreign issuers to hold stablecoin reserves locally.

Kenya requires stablecoin issuers, including foreign operators, to hold at least KES 300 million ($2.3 million) in paid-up capital and keep 30% of their stablecoin reserves in Kenyan banks, with the remaining 70% invested locally. The IMF wants Kenya to review the minimum capital required of crypto businesses, arguing that the rules should reflect each company’s risk.

Zoom out: Kenya is trying to make crypto safer without making it too expensive to operate legally. The IMF is concerned that overly demanding rules could leave Kenya with fewer licenced companies, while crypto trading continues anyway.

Yoco, a South African fintech startup, raised a $100 million credit facility from Victory Park Capital. (Nov 10)

Here are the other deals for the week:

• Journify, a Moroccan adtech startup, raised $12 million in a Series A round led by Al Mada Ventures, with Silicon Badia as co-lead, with participation from Shorooq and Bunat Ventures, Du Ventures, and Oraseya Capital. (Nov 6)
• Kifiya, an Ethiopian fintech startup, secured an undisclosed investment from the International Finance Corporation. (Nov 9)
• Water Ledger Global, a South African cleantech startup, secured an undisclosed strategic investment from Launch Africa Ventures. (Nov 9)
• Koolboks, a Nigerian-founded cleantech startup, secured an undisclosed debt facility from TLG Capital. (Nov 9)
• Cashi, a Sudanese fintech startup, raised $ 664,000 from Proparco. (Nov 10)
• Lumepay, a South African fintech startup, raised $6 million in pre-seed funding from angel investors and South African investors. (Nov 11)

That's all for this week. Before you go, here’s something for you: Africa's climate-tech sector is attracting capital, but not all business models are benefiting equally. Our latest analysis explores where the money is going and why. Read more here.

Follow us on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn for more funding announcements.

The World Wide Web3

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$68,431	- 6.83%	- 18.00%
Ether	$1,913	- 6.23%	- 23.53%
XRP	$1.01	- 2.90%	- 26.27%
Solana	$78.56	- 5.16%	- 28.77%

* Data as of 06.35 AM WAT, November 13, 2026.

Written by: Success Sotonwa, Yemi Kareem and Emmanuel Nwosu

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade