Hallo,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here's what I've got for you today:
- Elon vs. SA: the Starlink saga continues
- Access Bank and Visa launch contactless payment method
- Ugandan startup uses AI to empower women's health
Elon vs. SA: the Starlink saga continues
If you've been following the whole Starlink vs. South Africa drama, you’re probably sighing at yet another update. Trust me, same here. But hear me out, this one’s worth it.
So, in classic Elon Musk fashion, he went on X and claimed that Starlink can’t operate in South Africa because he’s not Black. Yeah, he actually said that. Obviously, the South African government wasn’t having it.
Clayson Monyela, a senior official in the foreign affairs department, quickly shut it down, calling Musk out for spreading misinformation. He made it clear that Starlink is welcome in SA as long as it follows the same rules as everyone else. Those rules include the Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy, which requires foreign telecom companies to sell at least 30% of their local business to historically disadvantaged groups.
Turns out, Starlink never actually applied for a licence, per reports. Yeah, I am surprised as well. Instead, SpaceX wrote to South Africa’s telecom regulator, ICASA, basically asking them to reconsider the whole 30% ownership requirement. ICASA, on the other hand, says they’ve received zero formal applications from Starlink or SpaceX. So technically, they’re not even trying to enter the market the right way.
That said, there might be a workaround. Reports suggest that Communications Minister Solly Malatsi is exploring alternative ways for foreign companies to comply, like investing in skills development instead of selling direct equity. If that happens, Starlink could still have a shot at launching in SA.
But for now, it just looks like Musk doesn’t want to play by the rules. And let’s be real: this isn’t the first time Starlink has run into regulatory issues in Africa (just ask Cameroon and Namibia).
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In other news, South Africa’s government is pushing for a small VAT increase, about 0.5 percentage points, as part of a compromise with the Treasury. Originally, the plan was to raise VAT by 2 percentage points, which would have pushed it up to 17% and generated around $10 billion over the next three years. But that idea hit major resistance, delaying the budget. Now, a smaller increase is on the table, though it means the Treasury will have to cut back on some of its planned spending, like the extra $2.5 billion earmarked for infrastructure repairs.
Finance Minister Enoch Godongwana is set to announce the final decision soon, and the big question is: Will this VAT hike be enough to fix SA’s finances, or should people brace for more tax increases?
The Treasury is also eyeing higher taxes on alcohol and fuel, while fixing ports and reviewing government spending are now top priorities. With the economy in rough shape, it’s clear that some kind of tax increase is coming, whether people like it or not.
Access Bank and Visa launch contactless payment method
Reading Bolu's latest story reminds me of Chimgozirim's take back in February when we had a chat. He felt Nigeria wasn’t ready for contactless payments. One of his reasons? Not many Nigerians with smartphones actually have NFC-enabled devices.
While there’s no solid data to back that up, he’s probably right. As of 2023, only 36% of urban Nigerians and 15% of rural Nigerians had smartphones. Sure, 93% of the population owns a mobile device, but not all of them are smartphones.
That said, many devices, including smartphones, smartwatches, tablets, and even some feature phones, are NFC-enabled. So, if Nigeria isn’t ready for contactless payments, why are fintechs pushing so hard for it? I mean, in just two weeks, Moniepoint and PalmPay announced their partnerships with AfriGO to roll out five million contactless payment cards in the country.
And as the trend picks up, fintechs like CashAfrica are gaining traction by offering contactless payment solutions. Clearly, some companies believe the market is ready or at least getting there.
Now, here’s the latest: Access Bank and Visa have launched a new product called Tap to Phone in Nigeria. The idea is simple. Merchants can accept contactless payments using just their NFC-enabled Android phones. No need for extra hardware like POS machines; customers just tap their Visa card on the merchant’s phone, and boom, payment done. It’s all about making transactions faster and easier for businesses and consumers.
Nigeria isn’t alone in this push for contactless payments. In Kenya, Interswitch and Tuma launched a similar system in September 2024. And in South Africa, Visa teamed up with iKhokha to help business owners accept card payments directly on their mobile devices. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is also on board, introducing new guidelines and increasing transaction limits to encourage cashless payments.
Access Bank isn’t new to this game, either. Back in 2015, they launched PayWithCapture, an app that let users pay by scanning a QR code. The same year, they partnered with Unified Payments to introduce PayAttitude, another NFC-enabled payment solution. They’ve clearly been working on contactless payments for nearly a decade, so this latest move with Visa feels like a natural next step.
If Tap to Phone catches on, it could transform Nigeria’s payment system, reducing reliance on cash and making transactions seamless. Of course, adoption will depend on smartphone penetration among merchants.
Ugandan startup uses AI to empower women's health
Imagine living in a remote village where the nearest hospital is hours away, and by the time you finally get there, it’s too late. This is the reality for millions of women in Uganda and across Africa who lack access to essential healthcare, especially cancer screenings.
Shamim Nabuuma saw this firsthand during her final year of medical school at Makerere University in 2017, and she knew something had to change.
Growing up, she always thought she’d become a doctor. Her parents encouraged it, and she followed the plan. But working in hospitals opened her eyes to a much bigger problem: rural communities were being left behind, especially when it came to cancer care. Instead of following the traditional medical path, she took a different route and founded Chil Femtech Center (formerly Chil AI Lab) to bring healthcare directly to the people who needed it most.
Uganda’s healthcare crisis isn’t unique. With over 73% of the country’s population living in rural areas, many people struggle to access basic medical services. Across Africa, the numbers tell the same story: 55% of people live in rural areas, yet only 20% of the continent’s shrinking pool of healthcare workers serve them. In places like Kenya, where 80% of the population resides outside urban centres, only 16% of doctors are available to them.
Nabuuma and her team recognised that rural clinics often existed, but they were missing one critical thing: doctors. Instead of waiting for patients to make the long, difficult journey to hospitals, she decided to take the hospital to them.
That’s how Chil Femtech Center began, with a mobile cancer screening clinic. A mix of paid medical professionals and volunteers travelled to remote areas, offering breast and cervical cancer screenings to women who otherwise wouldn’t get checked. The goal was simple: detect cancer early, when it’s still treatable, instead of waiting until it was too late.
But that was just the beginning. Chil Femtech Center has since expanded, revolutionising healthcare access in ways that are changing lives across the continent. Curious about how they’re doing it? Dive into Sarah’s latest story for the full scoop.
In case you missed them
- This Nigerian content creator left architecture to travel the world. Now, she’s challenging passport privilege with a Guinness World Record attempt
- Zipline to expand drone service in Nigeria to improve healthcare logistics
What I'm watching
- 20 Trump Supporters Take on 1 Progressive (feat. Sam Seder) | Surrounded
- Become a Dangerous Thinker | Friedrich Nietzsche
Opportunities
- Standard Bank Group is looking to fill several positions across Africa. Apply here.
- Kuda is looking for a Product Designer. Apply here.
- Vesti is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- Paystack is hiring a Payroll specialist for Africa and Europe. Apply here.
- YC is offering summer grants this year to support undergraduate computer science and engineering students. Apply here.
- Lagos Business School has several openings. Apply here.
- IHS Towers is looking to fill different positions across Africa. Apply here.
- Paystack is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- MTN is hiring for several positions. Apply here.
- Moniepoint is hiring for several roles. Apply here.
- Celebrate the New Year with delightful stories like Smart Couples. Call 421 on your Airtel line now — you won't be charged! Alternatively, call 07080601391 at your network's regular rate. Learn more here.
- Follow Techpoint Africa's WhatsApp channel to stay on top of the latest trends and news in the African tech space here.
Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
