Namaskārām,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Orange taps JUMO to bring AI-driven loans to mobile users
- Can battery swaps power Spiro to $200M?
- Lydia’s founder steps down, chaos follows
Orange taps JUMO to bring AI-driven loans to mobile users
Orange Money, the mobile money arm of French telco Orange, has teamed up with South African fintech JUMO to launch a new microloan service for millions of people across Africa. The idea is simple: mobile users can now access small loans directly from their phones. This means no paperwork, no bank visits, and just a few taps on their Orange Money app or via USSD.
This move is targeting the unbanked population, people who don’t have formal credit history but still need quick access to cash. For context, around 42% of adults in Africa — over 400 million people — still don’t have access to formal financial services, despite all the hype around mobile money and fintech growth in 2025. I mean, in the year of our Lord 2025?
Anyhoo, JUMO’s smart algorithms analyse how users spend, save, and top up airtime to decide who gets approved. If the loan is approved, the money hits their wallet instantly, and repayments are taken out automatically.
The service is launching first in Burkina Faso, with Mali and Botswana next in line. Orange, which serves 110 million mobile users across 17 countries, is betting big on this financial service push. The company handled over €160 billion ($173 billion) in transactions in 2024 alone.
Meanwhile, JUMO, the London‑based AI-powered banking‑as‑a‑service fintech platform, has already disbursed $8 billion in loans to 31 million people in Africa and Asia, and says it can keep defaults below 4% using its mobile-based risk models. It already works with big players like MTN, Airtel, Ecobank, and Absa.
This partnership adds another layer to the growing trend of telcos becoming lenders in Africa. Nigeria’s PalmPay is doing something similar, offering loans and savings products through mobile, mainly to people who’ve never walked into a bank. It’s a clear signal that telecoms aren’t just selling airtime anymore; they’re reshaping how financial services reach everyday people.
Both companies say this is just the beginning. Orange wants to take the credit service to many more countries, while JUMO sees this as a gateway for banks to reach new customers without building costly infrastructure. In short, it seems like a fintech play with deep reach and a big opportunity. As always, only time will tell.
Can battery swaps power Spiro to $200M?
Can Spiro really hit $200 million in revenue by 2025 or is that just hype riding on two wheels? That’s the big question swirling around one of Africa’s electric mobility startup after multiple outlets reported the ambitious figure. But in a chat with Techpoint Africa, Spiro CEO Kaushik Burman set the record straight: the company’s actual goal is 10x growth in bike deployment, not necessarily revenue.
Still, that kind of growth is no small feat. Burman didn’t offer details on current revenue or user numbers but did share that Spiro now has 40,000 electric bikes across six African countries. That’s a major leap from the 10,000 bikes it had in just four countries as of January 2024, according to Rest of World. So yes, the expansion is real and fast.
If you crunch the numbers, Spiro’s business model starts to make sense. Most riders use the daily subscription plan, which costs around $5.32 and includes up to seven battery swaps, plus maintenance and insurance. Go beyond the swap limit? It’s an extra $0.83 per battery. The company also sells bikes outright for $1,150 to $1,470, but subscriptions are clearly where the long-term play is.
So what does all this mean for that elusive $200 million figure? Well, if all 40,000 deployed bikes are in daily use, Spiro could be pulling in close to $78 million annually. That’s solid, but still far from $200 million. To bridge that gap, Spiro would need to nearly triple its fleet to at least 103,000 active bikes by the end of 2025.
Burman says the company is banking on a rapid rollout of battery-swapping infrastructure to drive its next wave of growth. That infrastructure is what makes the model viable in markets where riders can’t afford to buy bikes outright. It also means Spiro can scale faster than traditional motorbike businesses, but it’s still a tall order.
Curious about whether Spiro’s hyper-growth plans are doable or just a PR flex? Don’t miss Bolu’s full breakdown on Techpoint Africa. Of course, there’s more insight, numbers, and context than I could fit here. Read the story here.
Lidya’s founder steps down, chaos follows
For nearly a year now, small business owners who used Lidya Collect have been locked out of their own money. These are not just one-off customers, but entrepreneurs who trusted the platform to help them recover loans from their customers, only to now be left hanging with no access to their funds.
Lidya, founded in 2016 by ex-Jumia executives Tunde Kehinde and Ercin Eksin, promised to help SMEs access credit. In 2020, the company even expanded to Poland and the Czech Republic before retreating from Europe in 2023 to double down on its Nigerian product, Lidya Collect, a tool that automatically debits customers to repay loans and drops the funds into a Lidya wallet.
But here’s the catch: those wallets have been frozen for close to nine months. Customers told Techpoint Africa that emails, calls, and pleas have gone unanswered. “We have millions stuck. We’ve had to chase debts manually. It’s been horrible,” said one frustrated user.
Things seemed to fall apart last year. Kehinde quietly stepped down as CEO in October 2024. Before that, the company’s CTO, Cristiano Machado, had already exited. When a concerned customer reached out to Kehinde this year, he said he’d been out for a while and pointed them to a new CEO, Itunu Efunkoya — Lidya’s longtime finance manager — who hasn’t publicly confirmed or denied her new role.
Insiders say cracks began to show as far back as May 2024. The Portugal-based tech team, which reportedly powered Lidya’s products, went unpaid for four months and eventually all quit. One ex-employee claimed a major investment fell through, and the board didn’t step in to clean up the mess.
When contacted by Techpoint Africa, Efunkoya acknowledged the issue and said the company was working on a fix. But months later, there’s still no update and businesses are still locked out of their money.
In case you missed it
- NIMC sounds warning as Nigerians sell NIN for as low as ₦2,000
What I’m watching
- How to get your best night’s sleep – What in the World podcast, BBC World Service
- Why Do People Have Periods When Most Mammals Don’t?
Opportunities
- Pitch Friday is happening on August 8, 2025. To attend, register here.
- MTN Nigeria is hiring an Analyst, Data Proposition teens marketing. Apply here.
- Glovo is looking to fill several roles. Apply here.
- Airtel Africa is recruiting a Data Engineer. Apply here.
- Meta is looking for a Privacy Policy Manager, sub-Saharan Africa. Apply here.
- BIC is hiring a Manager, Direct Procurement for Middle East & Africa. Apply here.
- Businessfront, the parent company of Techpoint Africa, is looking for a Researcher and Scriptwriter Intern for Businessfront TV. Apply here.
- TetradPay is looking for a Content and Communications Specialist. Apply here.
- TetradPay is looking for a Marketing and Growth lead. Apply here.
- TetradPay is looking for a Creative and Design Executive. Apply here.
- Building a startup can feel isolating, but with Equity Merchants CommunityConnect, you can network with fellow founders, experts, and investors, gaining valuable insights and exclusive resources to help you grow your business. Click here to join.
- Help us make Techpoint better for you! Your feedback shapes what comes next (your responses may potentially save my job. A bit dramatic, but still). It will only take 30 seconds to tell us what works and what doesn’t. Fill it here.
- To pitch your startup or product to a live audience, check out this link.
- Have any fresh products you’d like us to start selling? Check out this link 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 lovely Tuesday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa.
