Challenging the stablecoin narrative and more
Your daily intelligence briefing on Africa and Middle East B2B tech trends and insights.
Welcome to issue 85 of the Africa B2B Tech Report Daily for 3 August 2026.
The Africa B2B Tech Report is published by BigFive Digital, a Cape Town-based independent media company focused on The Business of African Tech.
The report is produced by Charles Laughlin, BigFive Digital’s Co-founder & Chief Content Officer. Charles is a globally experienced tech journalist, podcaster, & conference producer.
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Italy stablecoin report misses the mark on Africa
A new mystery shopping report by the Banca d’Italia delivers a rigorous, data-driven critique of the widely cited “crypto-remittance” thesis. And the report is widely being reported as undermining the notion that stablecoins are the answer to high remittances costs around the world.
But the report, if applied only to Africa, might falsely undermine the stablecoin narrative.
The Banca d’Italia mystery shopping exercise specifically involved researchers executing real-world transfers of 200 USDC across ten distinct corridors. These corridors linked Italy bidirectionally with Argentina, Brazil, South Africa, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and Japan to measure exact end-to-end costs and execution speeds.
The Banca d’Italia report presents a highly sophisticated macro framework, but its reliance on a Euro-centric, formal banking methodology exposes some blind spots specific to the continent.
There are three key areas where the report misses the mark.
It ignores mobile money (MoMo) integrations
The study explicitly states that the end-to-end efficiency of the “stablecoin sandwich” is largely dictated by the quality of a country’s domestic bank payment infrastructure. For South Africa, it relied heavily on traditional bank-based off-ramping.
In Sub-Saharan Africa, the critical “last mile” off-ramp isn’t a legacy commercial bank account, it’s a mobile money wallet (e.g., MTN MoMo, Airtel Money, M-Pesa).
The report fails to account for the infrastructure integrations being built by African Web3 middleware startups (like Onafriq or Yellow Card) that bypass banks entirely, allowing stablecoins to be converted directly into local mobile wallets instantly and at dramatically lower localized fees.
It misunderstands local currency challenges
The methodology measures costs using official bank-rate foreign exchange conversions and formal, highly regulated European-facing crypto exchanges.
In highly inflationary African economies, the official exchange rate is often an illusion caused by local dollar liquidity shortages. The real cost-benefit of stablecoins isn’t measured against a smooth Euro-to-Rand bank transfer; it is measured against the predatory parallel market rates or the outright inability to access physical dollars. Importers and B2B players willingly pay local crypto exchange spreads because it is still significantly cheaper and faster than waiting weeks for a central bank dollar allocation.
It over-Indexes for “micro-remittances” vs. B2B settlements
By focusing exclusively on a $200 retail transfer, the study naturally maximizes fixed exchange fees and concludes that stablecoins are inefficient due to the lack of economies of scale.
In Africa, this point stands for retail C2C transfers. But sub-Saharan Africa’s crypto growth is largely characterized by commercial B2B cross-border settlements—small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) moving tens of thousands of dollars to settle trade invoices with suppliers in Asia, Europe, or other regional blocs.
For these transactions, the fixed on/off-ramp fees compress to near-zero, entirely falsifying the study’s conclusion that stablecoins hold “no systematic cost advantage”.
The Banca d’Italia report accurately highlights the frictions of moving money out of a formal European banking system into a formal African banking system using retail crypto rails. However, it completely overlooks the parallel, non-bank infrastructure (Mobile Money + B2B invoice settlement) where the true African stablecoin value proposition actually thrives.
Flutterwave strategy pivot: Bank acquisitions ahead of delayed IPO
Flutterwave, Africa’s highest-valued fintech unicorn, is shifting its core growth strategy from traditional payment processing toward direct ownership of banking infrastructure.
The company reportedly plans to acquire an unnamed East African bank, a strategic pivot unfolding alongside ongoing delays in its highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO) talks.
Historically, payment companies have operated as middlemen, relying on partnerships with established commercial banks to clear and settle transactions. Acquiring an actual banking entity changes this dynamic entirely. Instead of paying partner banks to move money, Flutterwave can route cross-border B2B transactions directly through its own licensed rails
This transition carries massive implications for regional payment ecosystems like Ghana, which is dominated by mobile money networks such as MTN MoMo and Telecel Cash.
By stepping out of the middleman lane and operating as a full-service financial institution, Flutterwave will be positioned to offer merchants unified platforms, significantly faster payout times, and corporate lending products backed by a bank balance sheet.
How does this expansion impact the company’s long-rumored IPO plans?
Building out institutional banking infrastructure allows Flutterwave to significantly widen its profit margins, solidify its unit economics, and transition into a deeply integrated financial powerhouse before listing on public boards.
For B2B tech observers, Flutterwave’s calculated delay proves that the race to dominate the continent’s payment landscape is no longer just about software pipelines—it is about owning the underlying banking rails.
Google launches Africa Applied AI Lab to cultivate gen1 AI unicorns
Google has officially opened applications for its inaugural Google Africa Applied AI Lab, a platform designed to transition foundational artificial intelligence research into market-ready products.
Based at the Accra AI Community Centre (AICC) in Ghana, the initiative pairs African founders and researchers directly with Google experts to co-develop solutions tailored to the continent’s unique socio-economic landscape.
The program focuses on five key thematic sectors: the future of work, knowledge, software development, creativity, and entertainment.
Selected participants will be given hands-on technical guidance alongside exclusive, early access to Google DeepMind’s advanced AI models—including Gemini, Gemma, and Veo—before their public release.
The experience will conclude with a December Demo Day, offering potential funding from the Google AI Futures Fund and elite regional VC partners like Norrsken22 and Ventures Platform.
Google’s core motivation points toward a long-term ecosystem play. By positioning the lab as a non-equity incubator, Google aims to anchor its own model architectures into the infrastructure of Africa’s emerging tech ecosystem.
While many African AI founders will jump at this opportunity, there are skeptical voices out there. Much of the concern involves issues like data sovereignty and digital dependency.
When we went to LinkedIn to see what was being said about this initiative, most comments expressed excitement about the opportunity. We also found this.
Too often, we Africans jump on things without thinking deeply about the bigger picture. Google didn’t open an AI lab in Africa out of charity or for free. Every major investment by a company like that comes with a long-term strategy and business interest. We should ask why—not just celebrate what happened.
Here is the link for those who wish to apply:
Here is our quick daily roundup of the African tech and business stories we think you should be aware of, but probably didn’t have the time to read. [Original sources included.]
Today’s TLDR is supported by SALT
Connecting business with digital talent in South Africa
Uganda selects 83 founders for Japan-backed tech cohort
Uganda’s Ministry of ICT has inducted 83 young innovators into the fourth batch of the Entrepreneurship Training and Mentorship Program. Part of the UJ-Connect initiative backed by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), the accelerator provides tech founders with business development support, intellectual property protection, and global market linkages.
WeAreTech.Africa
OPay touts structural compliance to cement merchant trust
In a market defined by regulatory shifts and security anxieties, fintech giant OPay is actively reinforcing its B2B trust metrics. The platform is emphasizing its compliance frameworks, multi-layer verification systems, and infrastructure stability—positioning operational transparency over marketing claims to retain its massive merchant user base.
Techpoint Africa
Kenya cyber threats surge amid AI adoption, Kaspersky reports
Kaspersky reports that Kenyan businesses face a major cybersecurity crisis. Password stealers and spyware attacks surged by 83% year-over-year, while backdoor attacks rose 25%. Driven by the adoption of advanced AI technologies, these increasingly sophisticated threats have positioned Kenya among the most targeted countries for cybercrime across Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Kenyan Wall Street
Syria launches ‘My Syria’ super app to boost tourism economy
UAE-based Syrian startup 121 Living, backed by Syria’s Ministry of Tourism, has launched “My Syria”—the country’s first integrated super app. Combining tourism and lifestyle services, the platform integrates cross-border digital payment infrastructure supporting Apple Pay and Visa, helping local businesses tap into Syria’s rebounding tourism sector.