👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Tax banana

Summary

This edition covers a string of stories shaping African tech and media: NVIDIA’s massive $100bn data-centre tie-up with OpenAI heads the newsletter, but the Africa-focused items include Safaricom’s major M-PESA upgrade to a cloud-native Fintech 2.0, Kenya’s aggressive tax collection push versus Nigeria’s weaker take, Malawi’s new anonymous anti-corruption app, and Canal+’s $2bn takeover of MultiChoice. There are also notes on Terra’s Abuja drone factory, a crypto snapshot and upcoming industry events.

Key Points

NVIDIA will invest with OpenAI to deploy at least 10 gigawatts of systems — a headline global AI infrastructure play.
Safaricom completed the biggest M-PESA upgrade to date, moving to a cloud-native Fintech 2.0 core after a three-hour cutover.
Fintech 2.0 raises starting throughput to 6,000 transactions per second with room to double, and enables component upgrades without full outages.
Kenya collects about $20bn annually (≈15% of GDP) in taxes and is beefing up enforcement — social-media checks, M-PESA/bank data links and paramilitary agents — while Nigeria plans ~$12bn (≈7% of GDP) and has low taxpayer compliance.
Malawi launched ACB Connect, a mobile/web whistleblowing tool built with UNDP to allow anonymous corruption reports, but low internet penetration (≈18%) and adoption risks remain.
Canal+ completed a $2bn deal for MultiChoice, holds ~48.2% of shares, reshuffled the board and creates a major pan-African media powerhouse across Francophone and Anglophone markets.
Terra is assembling rugged drones in Abuja tailored to African use cases: agriculture mapping, pipeline monitoring and medical deliveries.
Crypto snapshot (data as of 22 Sept 2025): Bitcoin ≈ $112,725 (‑2.47% day), Ether ≈ $4,192 (‑6.23% day), XRP ≈ $2.84 (‑4.49% day), Solana ≈ $220 (‑6.98% day).
Events: Entertainment Week Africa (18–23 Nov 2025) and the FATE Business Conference (26 Sept, Lagos) offer platforms for deals, jobs and AI-business discussion.

Content summary

Safaricom’s move to Fintech 2.0 is a technical and strategic reset: the platform can now scale past previous limits, push faster feature releases and reduce outage risk — a valuable edge as competitors nibble at M-PESA’s market. Kenya’s revenue authority is monetising tech and surveillance to widen its tax base; Nigeria’s reforms seek similar outcomes but face low compliance and the risk of creating new avoidance behaviours. Malawi’s ACB Connect app signals growing reliance on digital whistleblowing, yet adoption will depend on trust-building and connectivity. Canal+’s MultiChoice buy reshapes distribution and content control across Africa, while Terra’s drones show attention returning to physical infrastructure that solves on-the-ground problems.

Context and relevance

These stories intersect three big trends: (1) infrastructure upgrades (payments and data) that enable faster digital commerce; (2) state efforts to mobilise revenue in a post‑oil era, which affect business costs and regulatory risk; and (3) consolidation of media and physical-tech investments that determine who controls content and logistics across the continent. For anyone building fintech products, running media businesses, or tracking regulatory risk in Africa, these developments matter now.

Why should I read this?

Short version: if you care about payments, taxes, or what people watch in Africa, this one’s worth a skim. M-PESA’s upgrade means fewer outages and quicker feature rollouts; Kenya’s tax hustle could reshape business margins and compliance burdens; Canal+ buying MultiChoice will change content plays; Malawi’s whistleblowing app is a heads-up on anti‑corruption tech — and yes, there’s big global AI money in the mix too. We did the reading, so you don’t have to — dip into the full piece if any of these hit your beat.