Bună ziua,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Guinea takes full control of Areeba after MTN exit
- Why Nigerian startups always end up selling airtime
- Kenyan riders are turning on Spiro
Guinea takes full control of Areeba after MTN exit
Guinea has officially taken full control of Areeba Guinée. A presidential decree signed by military leader Mamadi Doumbouya confirms that the state now owns 100% of the telecoms operator after buying out the remaining shares previously held by MTN Group. The announcement was read on state TV on last Thursday night, making the takeover formal and final.
What this means is simple: Areeba is now a state-owned telecoms company, with full public ownership and voting rights resting with the government. A second decree also approved new statutes for the company, turning it into a public limited firm with a board of directors and operational autonomy. In other words, Areeba can now run as a proper commercial entity, just under state control.
How did we get here? MTN’s exit from Guinea has been a long, tense process. The South African telecoms group had faced regulatory disputes, fines, and pressure from authorities for years. In 2017, MTN Guinea was rebranded to Areeba after MTN sold a majority stake, but the state gradually tightened its grip. By December 2024, the government had already acquired MTN’s shares, keeping Areeba running under an interim arrangement until a final decision was made.
This full takeover also raises questions about Guinea Telecom, the state-backed operator meant to replace the defunct SOTELGUI monopoly. That project has suffered repeated delays, pushed from 2023 to 2024 and then to 2025, largely due to ageing infrastructure and funding challenges. With Areeba now fully operational and state-owned, officials have not said whether Guinea Telecom will still launch or be merged into Areeba instead.
For now, the government has options. It could fold Guinea Telecom into Areeba, copy models like Benin’s SBIN and Celtiis, or even use Areeba as a financial asset to raise capital later. What’s clear is that Guinea has chosen control over privatisation, betting that owning a working telecoms operator is better than building one from scratch.
Why Nigerian startups always end up selling airtime
Last week, LemFi rolled out multicurrency accounts for users in Nigeria, pitching the product squarely at freelancers and digital entrepreneurs earning in dollars, pounds, and euros. When Chimgozirm saw the announcement, he joked on WhatsApp: “I expect airtime and DStv by Q2 2026.” It sounded flippant, but if you follow Nigerian tech closely, you probably nodded along.
Around the same time, Terrahaptix CEO Nathan Nwachukwu tweeted that Nigeria’s best minds shouldn’t be stuck building fintech and SaaS forever. He may have meant it lightly, but it hit a nerve. There’s a growing sense that innovation here is circling the same ideas and that fintech, in particular, is starting to feel overcrowded. As one insider put it bluntly: in the end, we all sell airtime.
There’s a reason for that. Mono CEO Abdulhamid Hassan explained it neatly in a recent post: airtime is habitual and universal. Everyone with a phone needs it. You’re not teaching users new behaviour; you’re simply tapping into one that already exists. The margins may be thin, but demand is predictable, distribution is built-in, and revenue doesn’t require evangelism.
This is where reality kicks in. Founders start with big ideas and strong convictions, but the market has a way of humbling everyone. Funding tightens, growth stalls, and the promised inflection point never quite arrives. As Sim Shagaya once said of Konga, they did everything right but Nigeria didn’t show up the way India or the Middle East did for their peers.
So innovation takes a back seat, not because founders lack ambition, but because survival comes first. You sell airtime. You add utility payments. Not because it was the dream, but because it keeps the lights on. To understand how investors shape — and sometimes limit — these choices, find out more in Chimgozirim’s latest story.
Kenyan riders are turning on Spiro
Spiro Kenya is reportedly battling a wave of anger from boda boda riders who say the company’s electric bike model feels less like innovation and more like control. Despite an official statement and influencer-led PR, sentiment online remains largely hostile, with riders accusing Spiro of exploiting its power over batteries, bikes, and livelihoods.
The backlash began after a Spiro rider, Rapcha The Sayantist, shared viral posts alleging that the company remotely disabled bikes and flagged batteries as “stolen” after just five days of inactivity. Riders said bikes were grounded even when they were sick, repairing their bikes, or dealing with personal emergencies. The posts struck a nerve, with many likening the system to a telco shutting down your SIM because you went offline for a few days.
At the centre of the controversy is a repossession notice stating that Spiro-owned batteries deemed “dormant” for five consecutive days could be reclaimed. Spiro says the policy is about asset ownership, battery health, and keeping batteries available for active riders. Riders, however, argue that without a battery, they cannot use a bike they already paid for, raising a bigger question about whether they truly own anything at all.
Spiro has defended its model, saying battery-as-a-service keeps bike prices low and improves safety. It also admitted the system can feel rigid and says it is reviewing how exceptional cases like illness or accidents are handled. Still, many riders say the response misses the point. If the battery is the asset, why disable the entire bike? Add expensive spare parts, restricted repairs, and forced towing, and the system begins to feel like a monopoly.
For many, this moment goes beyond Spiro. It exposes a deeper tension between rigid tech systems and the messy realities of Kenya’s informal economy. Electric mobility may be the future, but riders say that future cannot run on remote shutdowns and zero flexibility. If e-bikes end up offering less freedom than petrol bikes, the green promise quickly turns sour.
In case you missed it
- MTN and Airtel face service outages in Abuja due to diesel supply disruptions
What I’m watching
- Secret Service Agent: How To Stay In Control When Someone Is Trying To Manipulate You!
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Have a wonderful Wednesday!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
