east-africa Archives

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: Acquisition Pipeline Update

Business

6 minute read

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

UphivaBETAR
April 21, 2026

MTN Group committed $1.2bn of its $2bn fintech war chest to IHS Towers infrastructure. Moniepoint — the most speculated acquisition target — bought its own Kenyan bank. BETAR tracks what the pipeline actually looks like 90 days on.

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East Africa Gulf data corridor submarine cable infrastructure map 2026

Technology

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6 minute read

East Africa-Gulf Data Corridor: The Backbone Reshaping Africa’s Internet

UphivaBETAR
April 3, 2026

For three weeks in May 2024, internet performance across seven East African countries collapsed. The anchor-drag outage revealed who actually owns the infrastructure on which East Africa’s digital economy runs. The answer, increasingly, includes the Gulf.

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COMESA clears Vodacom Safaricom stake increase — 55% ownership and what it means for East Africa telecoms 2026

Technology

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4 minute read

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake Increase: What a 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

UphivaBETAR
April 3, 2026

COMESA cleared Vodacom’s acquisition of an additional 20% in Safaricom — no conditions attached. Vodacom now holds 55%, making it the first South African telco with majority control of East Africa’s dominant mobile operator.

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East Africa submarine cable ownership map showing Gulf capital investment in digital infrastructure

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East Africa’s New Data Landlords: Gulf Capital, Digital Sovereignty, and Who Controls the Internet Backbone

UphivaBETAR
April 2, 2026

Gulf sovereign wealth funds now own significant stakes in East Africa’s submarine cables and data centres. A BETAR Research Desk investigation into what that means for data sovereignty — and why East Africa’s legal frameworks have a critical structural gap.

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MTN war chest Q2 2026 acquisition pipeline IHS Towers 90 days

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6 minute read

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

UphivaBETAR
March 29, 2026

MTN Group committed .2bn of its bn fintech war chest to IHS Towers infrastructure. Moniepoint — the most speculated acquisition target — bought its own Kenyan bank. BETAR tracks what the pipeline actually looks like 90 days on.

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4 minute read

One Licence, Two Markets: What the Kenya-Rwanda Payment Passporting Deal Means for East African Fintech

UphivaBETAR
March 22, 2026

Kenya and Rwanda have signed a landmark MOU to build a mutual recognition framework for payment service providers — the first bilateral step in the EAC’s five-year cross-border payments integration blueprint.

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Tanzania contactless mobile money — Africa's first M-Pesa tap-to-pay service, 76.5M accounts

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6 minute read

Tanzania’s Contactless Lead: The East Africa Payments Story BETAR Is Missing

UphivaBETAR
March 22, 2026

Tanzania has 76.5 million mobile money accounts and just launched Africa’s first mobile money tap-to-pay service. Yet Africa’s fintech coverage systematically ignores it. Here’s what the market actually looks like.

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Kenya and Rwanda sign EAC PSP licence passporting MOU

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6 minute read

One Licence, Two Markets: Kenya and Rwanda Just Redrew East Africa’s Fintech Map

March 12, 2026

Kenya and Rwanda’s central banks have signed a landmark MOU to build a mutual recognition framework for payment service providers — the first concrete step in a five-year plan to integrate East Africa’s fragmented payments landscape.

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Illustration: MTN $2 billion war chest — African fintech acquisition strategy and 21-market footprint

Business

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4 minute read

MTN’s $2 Billion War Chest: The Acquisition Strategy That Could Reshape African Fintech

UphivaBETAR
March 10, 2026

With $2B+ in cash and 300 million subscribers, MTN Group is actively targeting fintech acquisitions in payments, lending and remittances. CEO Ralph Mupita confirms the strategy.

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east-africa

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

East Africa-Gulf Data Corridor: The Backbone Reshaping Africa’s Internet

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake Increase: What a 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

East Africa’s New Data Landlords: Gulf Capital, Digital Sovereignty, and Who Controls the Internet Backbone

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

One Licence, Two Markets: What the Kenya-Rwanda Payment Passporting Deal Means for East African Fintech

Tanzania’s Contactless Lead: The East Africa Payments Story BETAR Is Missing

One Licence, Two Markets: Kenya and Rwanda Just Redrew East Africa’s Fintech Map

MTN’s $2 Billion War Chest: The Acquisition Strategy That Could Reshape African Fintech

MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

Nigeria Bank M&A Wave 2026: Who Acquires the Recapitalisation Failures and at What Price?

Nigeria Bank M&A Wave: Who Acquires the Recapitalisation Failures — and at What Price?

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map

Airtel-Starlink Direct-to-Cell in Kenya: The End of the Coverage Excuse

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project

Nigeria BRIDGE Fibre Rollout: How the World Bank’s Pay-for-Results Architecture Is Funding Africa’s Biggest Broadband Project

GITEX Africa 2026 Day 2: STAR Summit — AI, Cybersecurity and Fintech Take Centre Stage

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MTN War Chest Q2 2026: 90 Days In, the Acquisition Pipeline Has Changed

Nigeria Bank M&A Wave 2026: Who Acquires the Recapitalisation Failures and at What Price?

Nigeria Bank M&A Wave: Who Acquires the Recapitalisation Failures — and at What Price?

COMESA Clears Vodacom’s Safaricom Stake: What 55% Ownership Means for East Africa’s Telecoms Map