Halo,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Axian makes bold move into East Africa’s fibre market
- Growwr wants to make freelance work pay
- Stoa acquires Atlas Kenya in $27M telecom deal
Axian makes bold move into East Africa’s fibre market
Axian Telecom Fibre, better known as Yas in East Africa, has made a big move into the region’s broadband market after completing the acquisition of a 99.63% stake in Wananchi Group, the parent company of Zuku and Simbanet. The deal marks Axian’s strongest play yet in the region’s fast-growing fixed Internet space, and sets it up to compete directly with established names like Safaricom, Liquid Home, and SEACOM.
For Axian, which already connects over a million homes across Africa, the acquisition is less about expansion for its own sake and more about scale and timing. Broadband demand in East Africa is booming, but infrastructure hasn’t kept pace. By snapping up Wananchi instead of building from scratch, Axian gets instant access to Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, and Malawi, markets where fibre growth is accelerating fast.
Wananchi’s brands, Zuku for homes and Simbanet for enterprises, will now operate under Yas. Axian says it plans to integrate the two into its regional fibre systems while pumping in new investment to expand FTTH, SD-WAN, and cloud services. Jobs and customer service continuity are expected to remain stable during the transition as Axian merges its Tanzanian operations with Wananchi’s existing setup.
Industry watchers see this as a smart, calculated entry. Building a new fibre network in East Africa takes years and massive capital. By acquiring a ready-made operator, Axian gets a head start, complete with customers, infrastructure, and local expertise. Analysts expect the company to shake up pricing and service offerings, especially in Kenya, where home broadband competition is heating up.
It’s also part of a bigger continental race. Across Africa, telecom players are jostling for control of fibre backbones and last-mile connectivity as data consumption skyrockets. Axian’s CEO, Hassan Jaber, says the deal fits the group’s vision to become a continental broadband leader. With its experience in Madagascar, Comoros, Senegal, and Togo, Axian sees East Africa as the next big growth frontier, and possibly a bridge to Rwanda, Zambia, and Burundi in the near future.
If all goes according to plan, this could become one of the most defining telecom deals of the decade, one that reshapes how Africa’s Internet infrastructure is built: through consolidation, regional integration, and deep investment rather than small, isolated rollouts.
Growwr wants to make freelance work pay
In 2024, two Nigerian founders decided they’d had enough of seeing African freelancers lose out on global gigs just because of where they came from. Payment delays, unfair rates, and disappearing offers had become far too common, and they wanted to fix that. So, they built Growwr, an AI-powered freelance and talent platform helping African professionals get paid and hired fairly.
For Obinna Umeh, the idea came from personal pain. He was once a top-rated freelancer on Upwork, handling projects across Africa and the US. But in 2020, after the pandemic, things took a turn. He started losing jobs he was qualified for simply because he was Nigerian. The final straw? Losing a $50,000 contract in Washington, D.C., because the platform only paid US residents with a Social Security Number.
That experience stuck with him. “It’s a reality for millions of freelancers in Africa who are systematically shut out of global opportunities because of where they’re from or how they get paid,” Umeh said. To solve that, he teamed up with Emmanuel Ajayi, a software engineer and Covenant University alum, to build a system that levels the playing field.
Before launching Growwr, the duo spent months researching. They surveyed freelancers, founders, and hiring managers across Africa, and what they found was grim. Over 70% of freelancers said they don’t get paid on time, with some waiting up to three months. Another 16% said they never got paid at all. On the other side, African companies were also struggling, taking months to hire tech or creative talent, only for many hires to underperform or abandon contracts.
So in May 2024, Growwr officially launched, offering verified African talent and faster, safer payments. In just a few months, the platform expanded to 13 countries, including Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Egypt, and Uganda, and has already paid out over $1.5 million to freelancers.
From one frustrating moment to a fast-growing startup, Umeh and Ajayi are rewriting the freelance story for Africans, one payment at a time. Find out how Growwr works in Delight’s latest for Techpoint Africa.
Stoa acquires Atlas Kenya in $27M telecom deal
The Competition Authority of Kenya has given the green light for French investor Stoa S.A.S. to buy Atlas Kenya for about $27 million (₦3.5 billion). It’s one of the biggest telecom infrastructure deals Kenya has seen this year and a strong signal that foreign investors are still bullish about the country’s growing digital economy.
Atlas Kenya, which runs over 450 telecom towers across the country, powers major networks like Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya. Since 2019, it’s been quietly building out connectivity infrastructure in both big cities and rural areas. Now, with Stoa stepping in, the company plans to ramp up tower expansion and roll out more solar-powered systems to keep networks reliable and green.
For Kenya, this deal goes beyond money. It highlights how telecom operators are shifting to a leaner model, outsourcing tower management to independent infrastructure firms so they can focus more on improving services. Across Africa, that model is transforming how people stay connected.
Stoa, which specialises in infrastructure and renewable energy projects in emerging markets, says the move fits perfectly with its push for cleaner, more efficient digital networks. The investment will also boost Atlas Kenya’s push to reach underserved regions, helping bridge connectivity gaps and improve data access for millions.
Atlas Kenya’s CEO, Randl Clendennen, called the acquisition a “transformational step.” Backed by earlier support from the International Finance Corporation, the company now plans to scale faster and make telecom towers smarter, greener, and more reliable. With this, Kenya’s telecom space is getting even more competitive and a lot more interesting.
In case you missed it
- Ventures Platform raises $64m to invest across Africa, adds Nigeria’s iDICE programme as LP
What I’m watching
- The best way to become good at something might surprise you – David Epstein
- Why you should define your fears instead of your goals | Tim Ferriss | TED
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Have a fun weekend!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
