2025 African Startup Review: Unpacking The Business Stories That Defined the Year

As the third week of our 2025 retrospective unfolds, the narrative shifts from Shutdowns and Controversies of the startup world to the heavier forces reshaping Africa’s economy at scale. This week, infrastructure, capital markets, global trade, and industrial power take center stage.

From landmark IPOs in Morocco to the impact of US tariffs on Africa’s trade economy, and from Big Tech’s deepening infrastructure bets to Chinese manufacturers accelerating into Africa, Week 3 tries to capture moments in the continent’s business story. These were signals of how Africa is being rewired into global supply chains, media empires, energy systems, and trade corridors.

These are the developments that quietly but decisively shaped the continent’s business landscape.

1. Cash Plus Becomes Morocco’s First Listed Fintech

In a historic landmark for North Africa, Moroccan fintech Cash Plus completed its IPO on the Casablanca Stock Exchange with a valuation of USD 550 M. The offering raised USD 82.5 M in a mixed capital raise and partial private equity exit, making it the first listed fintech in the region. Mediterrania Capital Partners sold down its stake while founding families retained control under a seven-year lock-up. With 5,000 physical branches and 2 million app users, Cash Plus positioned itself as a profitable, dividend-paying fintech, resetting expectations for North African exits.

2. Nigeria’s Taxation: The “Small vs. Large” Reckoning

Nigeria confirmed that its most comprehensive tax overhaul in decades would take effect from January 2026, following the passage of multiple tax and finance bills in 2024. Called the 2025 Tax Reform Act, it introduces a simplified but aggressive tiered system. The reforms broaden VAT coverage, tighten enforcement, and formalize the taxation of digital services, with exemptions for individuals earning below roughly NGN 800 K (USD 500) annually. Meanwhile, companies under NGN 100 M turnover are largely exempt from CIT and the new 4% Development Levy, while larger corporations will feel the squeeze.

With inflation hovering above 30% for much of 2025, social media campaigns against the tax have surged. Surveys show that only 18% of Nigerians trust the government to use tax revenue effectively, underscoring the deep legitimacy crisis surrounding the reform.

3. OmniRetail Acquires Traction Apps to Build a B2B FMCG Fintech Giant

OmniRetail acquired Nigerian payment startup Traction Apps in a deal backed by Ventures Platform, integrating Traction’s POS and merchant tools into OmniPay. The combined platform now serves 180,000 retailers, processes over NGN 2 T annually, and facilitates more than NGN 200 B in loans using transaction-driven credit scoring. The acquisition strengthened OmniRetail’s push to dominate Africa’s informal FMCG supply chain by merging commerce, payments, and credit under one infrastructure layer.

4. Canal+ Completes USD 3 B Takeover of MultiChoice

In September 2025, the long-teased marriage between French media giant Canal+ and MultiChoice became official. Canal+ finalized the USD 3 B deal, securing over 94% ownership of MultiChoice after regulatory clearance across multiple jurisdictions. The deal ended MultiChoice’s JSE listing, triggered leadership changes, and consolidated more than 40 million subscribers across 70 countries under one media group. It marked Africa’s largest media acquisition and signaled a shift in control of sports rights, content production, and pay-TV economics to global conglomerates.

5. Optasia Lists on the JSE at a USD 1.3 B Valuation

AI-driven credit platform Optasia debuted on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange in October 2025, raising ZAR 1.3 B and achieving a valuation of roughly USD 1.3 B. Operating across 40 markets through telco partnerships with MTN and Orange, Optasia used proprietary AI to extend digital credit to unbanked users. The IPO positioned Johannesburg as a viable public-market exit for pan-African fintechs as private funding tightened.

6. Microsoft Commits USD 300 M to South Africa’s Cloud and AI Stack

Microsoft announced a USD 300 M investment to expand South Africa’s cloud and AI infrastructure by 2027, adding to the USD 1.1 B that has been deployed since 2022. The investment targeted Azure capacity, data centers, and AI tooling, alongside funding for 50,000 technical certifications. The move reinforced South Africa’s role as a continental digital hub amid rising global demand for localized AI infrastructure.

7. Dangote Refinery Becomes Nigeria’s Biggest Industrial Flashpoint

Africa’s USD 20 B Dangote Refinery descended into crisis months after operations began, as disputes over fuel distribution, unionization, crude supply, and pricing spiraled into nationwide strikes. The refinery’s plan to deploy 10,000 CNG trucks to bypass fuel marketers triggered labor backlash, leading to worker dismissals, shutdowns of oil-sector regulators, and power generation losses exceeding 1,000 megawatts. Despite nearing 650,000 bpd capacity and sourcing up to 60% of its crude from the US, the refinery exposed how a single private asset had become systemically and politically indispensable.

8. Shoprite’s Decline Becomes Visible on the Ground

Once the undisputed king of African retail, empty shelves, store closures, and shrinking footprints across Nigerian cities made Shoprite’s struggles impossible to ignore in 2025. After its South African parent exited Nigeria in 2021, the local operator was forced into a restructuring, abandoning large-format stores and imported supply chains in favor of smaller outlets and 80% local sourcing. Once Africa’s retail expansion gold standard, Shoprite became a case study in how inflation, FX volatility, and changing consumer behavior can hollow out even the strongest brands. It is now attempting to “re-brand” its way out of a slump, but it feels like a zombie shuffle to some analysts.

9. Walmart Steps Out From Behind Massmart in South Africa

Walmart confirmed plans to open its first Walmart-branded stores in South Africa, ending years of operating quietly through Massmart. After acquiring full control of Massmart for USD 366 M and delisting it in 2022, Walmart positioned the new rollout as a test of whether its low-price global model can compete against entrenched local giants like Shoprite, Pick n Pay, and Woolworths in one of Africa’s toughest retail markets.

10. Chinese EV Makers Take Early Lead in Africa’s Electric Transition

2025 is officially the year Chinese EV manufacturers “arrived” in Africa with a bang. Chinese manufacturers, including BYD, Chery, BAIC, SAIC (MG), and GAC, accelerated their African expansion in 2025, announcing dealerships, assembly plants, and fleet rollouts across South Africa, Kenya, Egypt, and Morocco. BAIC is committed to producing 50,000 vehicles annually in Egypt, BYD expanded dealer networks, and Chinese-backed startups are electrifying buses, taxis, motorcycles, and tuk-tuks. With US and EU tariffs blocking Western markets, Africa emerged as China’s fastest-growing EV frontier.

11. Tesla Chooses Morocco Over South Africa for Its African Entry

Tesla incorporated Tesla Morocco in May 2025 and began recruiting for Casablanca-based operations, bypassing Elon Musk’s home country. Morocco’s EV-friendly policies, VAT exemptions, nearly 1,000 public chargers, proximity to Europe, and strong auto manufacturing base outweighed South Africa’s larger car market but weaker EV incentives and power reliability. The decision cemented Morocco’s rise as Africa’s EV manufacturing hub.

12. Morocco Accelerates Infrastructure Ahead of AFCON and the 2030 World Cup

Morocco officially entered “construction overdrive” as it gears up to host AFCON 2025 and co-host the 2030 World Cup. Morocco launched a USD 15 B infrastructure drive tied to hosting both competitions. Investments spanned stadiums, 60 training centers, airport expansions worth USD 2.8 B, high-speed rail extensions costing USD 9.6 B, road upgrades, and port expansions. The strategy aimed to convert football into a long-term tourism, logistics, and employment engine, targeting 26 million visitors annually by 2030.

13. Starlink and Airtel Bring Direct-to-Cell Satellite Coverage to Africa

Starlink partnered with Airtel Africa to deploy direct-to-cell satellite connectivity across all 14 Airtel markets, reaching 174 million subscribers. The service allows standard smartphones to connect directly to satellites without towers, with commercial rollout targeted for 2026. The partnership marked Africa’s most ambitious attempt yet to bypass traditional telecom infrastructure and close rural connectivity gaps.

14. Google Deepens Its Africa Commitment

Beyond Microsoft’s infrastructure bet, Google committed USD 37 M to AI development in Africa, funding food security tools, AI education across four countries, African language models, and university research hubs. The investments signaled a shift from Africa as a technology consumer to an emerging contributor to global AI systems.

15. Meta Activates the 2Africa Subsea Cable

Meta and partners activated the 45,000-kilometer 2Africa subsea cable in November 2025, delivering more capacity than all existing African cables combined. Connecting 33 countries, the system introduced up to 180 Tbps of capacity on some segments and is projected to add USD 36.9 B to Africa’s GDP by enabling cheaper bandwidth, cloud services, 5G, and AI workloads.

16. China–Africa Trade Surges as US Tariffs Bite

In April 2025, the return of reciprocal trade tensions saw the US administration slap up to a 30% tariff on countries across the world. Africa wasn’t spared. Affected by the US tariff policies, China increased efforts in Africa, with exports to Africa jumping 25% year-on-year to USD 122 B in the first seven months of 2025, putting total trade on track to exceed USD 200 B. As US tariffs tightened, AGOA access also narrowed; meanwhile, China removed duties on imports from African countries, deepening trade ties and positioning Africa as China’s fastest-growing export destination.

The third week of our 2025 review captures a pivotal shift where infrastructure and industrial scale take center stage. While the earlier parts focused on the reckoning with governance and integrity, this part focuses on the regional economic integration and digital expansion. Whether through landmark IPOs on the Casablanca Stock Exchange or the activation of the world-record-breaking 2Africa subsea cable, the continent is building the physical and digital rails necessary to support its next decade of growth.