👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Microsoft closes a Window in Nairobi

In 2019, tech giant Microsoft made a big promise to Africa’s tech talent that they could build products for the world without leaving home. Seven years later, that promise is coming undone. 

What happened? Microsoft is winding down its Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Nairobi, Kenya, putting nearly 400 jobs at risk. Microsoft employees in Nairobi were called to a meeting on Monday and told to meet their managers by October 16 to discuss exit options, including severance terms, according to two employees who spoke to TechCabal. The company has not disclosed how many employees will leave.

Why are they doing this? Microsoft said the proposed changes are part of its global restructuring, but insists it remains committed to Kenya and will continue employing people in the country. William Kabogo, Kenya’s ICT minister, met a Microsoft delegation on Monday and said the company had briefed him on its evolving operations. The two sides agreed to develop an action plan, though it remains unclear whether that could change the outcome.

Explain like I’m new here: Microsoft launched its Africa Development Centre in Nairobi and Lagos in 2019, pledging more than $100 million to develop African tech talent. The idea was to recruit local engineers to work on products for global markets, rather than limit African offices to sales and customer support. By 2022, the Nairobi centre employed more than 450 engineers, meeting Microsoft’s original hiring target ahead of schedule.

Cracks began to show: In March 2023, Microsoft cut jobs at the Nairobi centre when it laid off 10,000 employees globally. Then, in 2024, it shut down its Nigerian engineering centre in Lagos, Nigeria. At the time, Microsoft said the changes in Nigeria would not affect its Kenyan operations. Now, Nairobi faces a possible wind-down. In July, the company cut roughly 2.1% of its global workforce, following about 15,000 job cuts in 2025.

What happens to the talent? During the expansion of its engineering hub in Kenya, Microsoft recruited experienced workers from banks, telecom companies, and local tech firms. Now, that skilled talent is available for poaching in the local market. Microsoft spent seven years building an engineering team capable of developing products for global markets from Kenya. If the centre closes, Kenya will have to ensure that the talent and experience built in those seven years do not leave with it.

Wise, the UK remittance fintech, has spent the past year entering South Africa without actually launching the full Wise experience there. It secured conditional regulatory approval in December 2025, then signed a deal in April 2026 to power international payments for tier-1 bank Capitec’s 25 million customers. Now it has its own local regulatory footing.

What happened? On October 5, the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) confirmed it has appointed Wise Payments South Africa as a Category Two Authorised Dealer in foreign exchange (FX) with limited authority. The categorisation allows Wise to handle certain FX transactions, including transfers under South Africa’s R2 million ($120,000) annual discretionary allowance, and to offer remittance services through external money-transfer operators.

Explain like I’m new here: Wise has been selling the plumbing before opening the shop. Its April partnership with Capitec gave it distribution through South Africa’s largest bank by customer numbers. The new licence gives Wise its own regulated position inside the country’s FX system.

It still is not a bank. South Africans also cannot yet open the full Wise account available in markets such as the UK.

Between the lines: Compare that with Revolut, another UK remittance fintech and Wise’s competitor. Revolut applied for a full South African banking licence in September 2025 and wants the country, where it has since hired a chairman to supervise its operations, to become its first African banking market. By June 2026, the fintech said its local waitlist was approaching 100,000 people.

The two companies are entering Africa from opposite ends. Wise is starting with cross-border payments, infrastructure and bank partnerships. Revolut wants the broader banking relationship.

Zoom out: In March 2026, Wise has also received conditional approval to expand into Nigeria. Global fintechs are no longer content to move African money from offshore. They are seeking local licences, partners, and customers, putting them in direct competition with local fintechs and banks already fighting for those transactions.

iOCO, the South African technology services group formerly known as EOH, made more profit in its latest financial year. The interesting part is where that jump came from.

What happened? The company’s profit rose 39% to R357 million ($21.6 million), while adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 21% to R624 million ($37.8 million). Revenue, however, grew just 2.7% to R5.73 billion ($347.5 million).

Most of the improvement came from spending less. Employee costs fell by R288 million ($17.5 million), finance costs dropped 30% as debt came down, and iOCO paid a lower effective tax rate after recognising previously unused tax losses.

Between the lines: iOCO is becoming more profitable before it becomes much bigger. Services, still its largest revenue line, fell 6.6% to R3.9 billion ($236.5 million). Hardware sales jumped 50%, while software and licence revenue grew 20%. iOCO is making more money, but its biggest business is still shrinking. 

Cash gives another clue. Operating cash flow fell 44% to R239 million ($14.5 million), even though cash generated before working capital movements improved. The difference was timing: customers released a large amount of cash in the previous year as receivables fell, while receivables rose slightly this year.

State of play: iOCO also cut its debt and returned some cash to shareholders. Interest-bearing debt fell to R607 million ($36.8 million), within its lender limits. The company spent R69 million ($4.2 million) buying back 16.8 million shares.

iOCO has already squeezed more profit from roughly flat revenue. To keep earnings growing, it now needs revenue to do more of the work, especially services, which still make up most of the business. 

Zoom out: The company is starting to spend for growth again. It bought Dyner AI in May, its first acquisition in eight years, and followed that with a deal for Astraia Technology in July. With services revenue still falling, those acquisitions now have a clear job: help iOCO grow the top line.

Chances are you have seen someone in a Hollywood movie pay for coffee by tapping their phone or card and walking away. CashAfrica, a Nigerian fintech providing contactless payment infrastructure, wants to make that the new checkout routine at Chicken Republic, the Nigerian quick-service restaurant (QSR) chain run by Food Concepts.

What happened? CashAfrica has partnered with Food Concepts to introduce mobile tap-to-pay across 350 outlets run by the restaurant chain. Customers with compatible phones, such as those with near-field communication (NFC) tech, and supported banking or fintech apps will be able to tap their devices at PalmPay’s point-of-sale (PoS) terminals. 

CashAfrica provides the contactless technology, while ChamsSwitch, a Nigerian payment switching company, routes transactions between financial institutions. The rollout will begin in Lagos before expanding to Abuja and other locations.

Explain like I’m new here: Nigeria has been moving towards digital payments for years, but tapping a phone—or card—to pay is not yet the default. In 2022, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) introduced a plan to facilitate contactless payments, later noting that over 12 million contactless payment cards were in circulation by November 2025.

Why aren’t Nigerians tapping everywhere already? Most Nigerians pay with bank transfers, cash, or the familiar card-and-PIN method. Even where contactless payments are possible, there has been little concerted effort to make tapping a familiar option at checkout. Tap-to-pay technology needs Near Field Communication (NFC)-enabled devices—a wireless technology that lets two devices placed close together exchange information. NFC-enabled PoS terminals and compatible phones already exist in Nigeria. The hard work is in getting banks and fintechs to support the service, giving merchants a reason to offer it, and making customers aware they can tap to pay in the first place.

What’s different now? CashAfrica has already learnt that getting the technology to work is only part of the challenge. The company said earlier integration discussions with PalmPay, AltBank, and Sterling Bank stalled amid extended due diligence and regulatory concerns. Financial institutions needed assurance that the infrastructure met their compliance requirements before integrating it. 

Can Chicken Republic instil the habit? With more than 350 outlets, the restaurant chain gives the company a chance to put tap-to-pay in front of customers during everyday transactions. However, if CashAfrica wants the service to catch on at scale, customers need access through the banking and fintech apps they already use. They also need to know the option exists, which means user awareness. Tap-to-pay needs to work safely and reliably, protecting merchants from fraudulent chargebacks and giving customers an authenticated way to request refunds when a transaction goes wrong. Get those basics right, and CashAfrica has a better chance of making tapping a habit rather than a novelty.

CRYPTO TRACKER

The World Wide Web3

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$83,539	– 0.15%	+ 7.87%
Ether	$2,502	– 0.80%	– 0.28%
Bitway	$2.68	+ 48.88%	+ 257.46%
Solana	$107.29	– 0.74%	+ 6.20%

* Data as of 06.37 AM WAT, October 14, 2026.

Written by: Emmanuel Nwosu and Yemi Kareem

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade