Tungjatjeta,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- CBK licenses 42 new digital lenders in Kenya
- Warner Bros. renews DStv channel deal
- Starlink goes dark in Uganda ahead of polls
CBK licenses 42 new digital lenders in Kenya
Kenya’s digital lending space just got bigger and tighter. The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has licensed 42 new Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), pushing the total number of approved digital lenders in the country to 195. The announcement was made in a press notice released on Monday, December 30, and published on the regulator’s website.
This latest batch follows the licensing of 27 DCPs in September 2025 and 41 more in June, marking CBK’s steady push to formalise a sector that was once dominated by unregulated apps and predatory lenders. For borrowers, it signals more choice but also clearer rules around how digital loans should be offered and recovered.
Digital Credit Providers are lenders that operate fully online, offering a range of services including short-term personal loans, education financing, and asset and business loans via mobile apps, websites, or USSD. As of November 2025, CBK says licensed DCPs had issued over 6.6 million loans worth KSh 109.8 billion, underlining just how central digital lending has become to Kenya’s economy.
CBK began regulating digital lenders in 2022, after years of complaints around data abuse, hidden charges, and harassment during loan recovery. Since then, it has received over 800 applications, many of which are still under review. Licensed DCPs must meet strict requirements, including transparency on loan costs, ethical debt collection, data privacy, and anti-money laundering checks.
The regulator has also drawn a hard line on bad behaviour. Licensed lenders must prove their funding sources, avoid abusive recovery tactics, and are restricted from listing borrowers on credit reference bureaus. CBK says applications still under review should submit missing documents quickly, as the clean-up of Kenya’s digital lending market continues.
Warner Bros. renews DStv channel deal
For weeks, the industry chatter was that Warner Bros. Discovery was about to walk away from DStv, taking a dozen popular channels with it. Midnight was the deadline; the blackout felt inevitable. But just before the lights went out, a new agreement stepped in to save the day.
MultiChoice owner Canal+ and Warner Bros. Discovery have now signed a multi-year, multi-territory deal that keeps those channels alive across Africa and parts of Europe. The agreement covers the distribution of HBO Max and renews several Warner Bros. Discovery thematic channels, effectively ending the uncertainty around what would have been a major shake-up for DStv subscribers.
HBO, a longtime MultiChoice partner and the inspiration behind the original M-Net channel, sits at the centre of the deal. The Warner Bros. Discovery-owned brand is behind some of TV’s most iconic shows, from Game of Thrones and The Sopranos to The Wire, Veep, and The Last of Us. The company also owns DC Comics, the Harry Potter film rights, and New Line Cinema.
Under the new agreement, Canal+ will continue distributing 12 Warner Bros. Discovery channels across MultiChoice territories, with some exclusivity in key markets. CNN International and Cartoon Network remain exclusive to South Africa, while Cartoon Network Porto stays exclusive to Angola and Mozambique. Other channels like Discovery Channel, TLC, HGTV, ID, and Food Network will continue on a non-exclusive basis.
Canal+ described the deal as a major milestone, building on agreements already struck in France last year. It also includes the integration of HBO Max into select Canal+ packages and the renewal of 22 thematic channels and four free-to-air channels, a move that strengthens its entertainment, kids, news, and documentary lineup across African markets.
However, not all channels are staying. Four Paramount-linked channels will still leave DStv, as Paramount Africa shuts down operations at the end of December 2025. BET Africa, MTV Base, CBS Reality, and CBS Justice will go dark between December 31, 2025, and the morning of January 1, 2026, marking the end of Paramount’s run on DStv and GOtv.
Starlink goes dark in Uganda ahead of polls
Just weeks out from Uganda’s hotly contested January polls, Elon Musk’s Starlink Internet service has gone dark in the country, not because of earth stations being hit, but because the company agreed to block users at the government’s request. As of January 1, 2026, there are no active Starlink terminals in Uganda after the firm pulled the plug under pressure from regulators.
Starlink told Uganda’s Communications Commission it isn’t licensed to operate locally and has never legally sold, marketed, or imported its satellite kits into the country. Instead, fans of the service were plugging in hardware bought and activated abroad, a situation the company now says violated its terms of service.
The shutdown follows a leaked December 19 memo from the Uganda Revenue Authority. It told customs officials to block all Starlink gear at the border unless importers secured a written clearance from the Chief of Defence Forces, General Muhoozi Kainerugaba, who also happens to be President Museveni’s son.
Critics say the timing, just as election tensions are rising, makes it look like a move to clamp down on outside lines of communication that could keep voters and journalists connected during any service disruptions. Starlink insists it’s simply complying with local law as it works through the licensing process.
For now, ordinary Ugandans who had banked on Starlink for reliable, fast Internet are left offline or scrambling for alternatives, as the company and regulators negotiate how — or if — the service can return legally.
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Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
