AFRICA FINTECH OVERVIEW
PUBLIC MARKETS
The Imara African Opportunities Fund, investing in listed fintech and payment companies, is up 6.9% in August. The Fund is up 25% YTD.
One of the key assertions underpinning our conviction in a sustainable rally, in our portfolio of listed African equities, is continued earnings growth. One of the two pillars in the long only equity sweet spot of growing earnings and expanding multiples, is certainly delivering.
It was a bumper first half 2026 results season, following closely on the heels of an excellent set of 2025 earnings releases. Here are the highlights for some of our key positions:
- Fawry – EPS up 29%.
- MTN Group – EPS up 21%.
- Equity Bank – EPS up 32%.
- FCMB – EPS up 90%.
In our webinar we spoke about a company that is digitizing, and enabling payment and receipt, of civil servant salaries, tax returns, VAT returns, customs payments, property tax payments and a growing list of other services. This company, now a core holding in our portfolio, grew first half 2026 EPS by 66%.
Every single one of our portfolio holdings is growing comfortably above inflation and GDP growth.
The time to invest in Africa is NOW!!
VENTURE CAPITAL AND PRIVATE EQUITY DEAL UPDATE
- Ventures Platform has closed its second pan-African fund at $84 million, beating its original $75 million target despite a tougher global fundraising environment. New backers include EBRD, Norfund, Alphatron and Ashesi University Foundation, with the fund targeting startups from pre-seed through Series A
- Jumia has raised $50 million in fresh equity from the International Finance Corporation as the e-commerce giant pushes toward profitability. The funding gives the company more room to invest in its marketplace and operations as it works to hit breakeven in 2026
- Pan-African payments startup Moment has raised $22 million in a Series A led by AlphaCode Venture Partners. With $55 million raised so far, Moment plans to expand its payment network and infrastructure across the continent.
- Nigerian mobility fintech Moove has raised $250 million at a $2.1 billion valuation as it expands its autonomous-vehicle business. The raise would push Moove firmly into unicorn territory while giving the company more firepower for its global AV ambitions
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL OVERVIEW
NIGERIA
Nigeria’s external reserves have climbed to USD 53bn, representing their highest level in more than 17 years and bringing the country close to the reserve peak recorded in 2009.
Nigeria returns to FTSE frontier market after reforms. Capital market experts have commended the economic reforms of President Bola Tinubu following Nigeria’s return to FTSE Russell’s Frontier Market status, effective September 21, 2026. Stakeholders described the reclassification from unclassified status as an important vote of confidence in the nation’s financial architecture, following Nigeria’s removal in September 2023 due to foreign exchange illiquidity and capital repatriation bottlenecks.
Internet Subscribers Hit 157m as Broadband Penetration Increases to 56.11%. The number of active subscribers connected to the internet through various technology channels deployed by the Nigerian service providers, reached 157m as of May 2026, statistics released by the Nigerian Communications Commission has revealed.
Domestic refineries supply 75% of Nigeria’s petrol. Despite a sharp resurgence in petrol imports, domestic refineries, led by the Dangote Petroleum Refinery, emerged as Nigeria’s largest source of petrol supply in the first seven months of 2026, accounting for nearly three-quarters of the country’s total Premium Motor Spirit (petrol) supply, while imports fell sharply compared with the corresponding period of 2025.
Macro releases included (July stats):
- Inflation decreased to 15.4% y/y (June: 15.9%).
- FX reserves increased to USD 51.9bn (June: USD 51.3bn).
- PMI was 52.5 (June: 53.4).
EGYPT
The Remittances from Egyptians working abroad reached a record USD 47bn in FY25/26, according to data released by the Central Bank of Egypt. Remittances jumped a whopping 30% y/y in the past FY. In June, remittances rose 15.6% y/y to USD 4.2bn. Inflows from remittances continue to show a healthy pace of growth four months into the regional conflict, highlighting the stability of such inflows. June’s annual growth of c16% comes in line with the trend of the past months; hence, it continues to reflect strength in Egypt’s single largest source of FX income.
Chinese firm eyeing to build USD2bn industrial manufacturing complex in Egypt. Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs Hussein Eissa hosted a delegation from a leading Chinese aluminium company to discuss plans of establishing a USD 2bn integrated industrial complex in the Suez Canal Economic Zone (SCZone), according to a Cabinet statement released Thursday. The Cabinet has not unveiled any details regarding the company. The firm, however, intends to implement this project with the aim of expanding the scope of its operations in Egypt and its aluminium market, contributing to meeting local needs and exporting its products to foreign markets. The complex will rely on clean energy sources for its operations and aid in transferring expertise on modern technology, according to Eissa. It is expected to create over 3,000 job opportunities.
Egypt is targeting a roughly 20% increase in oil and gas exploration and production activities during 2026 as improved investment conditions and more regular payments to international partners encourage companies to accelerate drilling and development programme, according to Petroleum Minister Karim Badawi. In parallel, the Ministry launched an international bid for oil and gas exploration in 14 new concessions, according to Minister Badawi. The bidding covers eight blocks belonging to the Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS) in the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile Delta and North Sinai. The six other blocks belong to the Egyptian General Petroleum Corporation (EGPC) and are located in the Gulf of Suez, Sinai and the Western Desert. The news reflects the gov’t’s efforts to boost production, with the country recording its largest ever external energy deficit last year amidst a continued drop in domestic gas production.
UAE investor nears new USD 2.7bn deal on Egypt’s North Coast. Egypt is moving towards awarding the development of the Al-Jafira land on the northwestern coast, spanning 642 acres, to a UAE investor under a partnership agreement, in a deal valued at around EGP135bn (USD 2.7bn), according to four officials speaking to Asharq Business. The anticipated agreement stipulates that the UAE investor will pay for the land over six years, concurrently with the development of a tourism and hotel project. The preliminary agreement is based on a partnership model, guaranteeing the gov’t an annual share of between 20% and 30% of the project's revenues, in addition to an in-kind share of the hotel units to be constructed. The investor had already paid EGP100mn as a reservation deposit after being awarded the project about two months ago. In 2023, the President issued a decree allocating the 642-acre Al-Jafira land to the National Investment Bank as part of the state's plan to settle the bank's debts and resolve its financial entanglements with government entities.
Egypt’s FX reserves break new highs in July. FX reserves continued to climb higher in Jul, reaching a new record level, according to data from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE). Net International Reserves jumped USD 1.2bn M-o-M in July to USD 56.3bn, thanks to a USD 355mn rise in the value of gold holdings and USD860mn in the balance of foreign currencies. The increase in gold is entirely price-driven, with the CBE’s quantity of gold remaining unchanged during the month. Moreover, tier-II reserves also increased July, rising by USD 1.5bn during the month to a total balance of USD 12.5bn.
Macro releases included (July stats):
- Inflation was 14.9% y/y (June: 14.3%).
- FX reserves were USD 56.3bn (June: USD 55.1bn).
- PMI increased to 46.8 (June: 46.0).
KENYA
Kenya’s first local Exchange Traded Fund is set to debut on the Nairobi Securities Exchange after receiving regulatory approval, giving investors a new route into a banking sector valued at about KES 1.64tn and backed by KES 288bn in combined 2025 profits across the 11 index constituents.
The Central Bank of Kenya held its benchmark interest rate at 8.75% for a fourth consecutive meeting on Tuesday, extending its longest policy pause since 2020 as inflation stayed within target, the shilling remained stable and private-sector credit growth returned to double digits.
EABL to Pay Highest Dividends Since 2003 after Record KES 18.23bn Profit. East African Breweries PLC’s net profit jumped 49.4% to a record KES 18bn in the year ended June 2026 as a 13% increase in volumes, tighter cost control and lower finance expenses lifted earnings faster than the 13.3% growth in net sales to KES 146bn.
Macro releases included (July stats):
- Inflation was 6.5% y/y (June: 6.4%).
- PMI increased to 51.3 (June: 50.0).
- 2q23 current account deficit widened to KES 138.7bn (USD 920m).
- The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) anticipates GDP growth for 2023 at 5.7%.
MOROCCO
The Consumer Price Index decreased by 1% in July 2026 as compared to the previous month, translating a 1.9% decrease in the food consumer price index and a 0.3% decrease in the non-food consumer price index. Therefore, CPI recorded a 0.6% decrease as compared to July 2025. As for the underlying inflation indicator, which excludes volatile price products and regulated ones, it decreased by 0.1% as compared to the previous monthand as compared to July 2025.
The Ministry of National Land Planning, Urban Development, Housing and Urban Policy published the evolution of cement deliveries by the end of July 2026. As such, cement deliveries stood at 1,424kT in, up 1.9% as compared with July 2025. Cumulatively, cement deliveries decreased by 0.8% to 8,288kT over the first 7 months of the current year.
Macro releases included (July stats):
- Inflation was -0.6% y/y (June: 0.3%).
- Gross investments into Morocco slowed, down -3.1% in 2q23 (2q22: -8.4%).
MAURITIUS
Macro releases included (July stats):
- Inflation was 4.4% y/y (June: 3.7%).
- Bank of Mauritius (BoM) moved the interest rate to 4.75%.
COMPANY UPDATES
Key to brackets: (country, industry)
MARKET OUTLOOK
Africa is expected to outperform the rest of the world with an improved outlook in 2026. We continue to allocate to high quality businesses; those that score highly on our internally developed, Likert Q-scoring system, both currently and over time. We have two additional quantitative overlays, valuation and growth. We also have two qualitative overlays being management and ESG. What is particularly exciting is that we have a number of businesses across Africa that fit these criteria. The key transformational trends of financial inclusion, urbanisation and economic formalisation underpin a robust African consumer story that is taking shape regardless of global volatility. We allocate to the best companies in the sectors that tap into this transformation. At the moment, we have a bias towards financial inclusion and fintech themes as they do particularly well on our growth metrics.
NIGERIA: The new President is taking reforms seriously, a hugely positive signal to the markets. The communications, fintech and banking sectors are growing strongly, yet high quality companies exploiting these, are at all time low valuation multiples.
EGYPT: The short term outlook for Egypt is extremely positive on the back of the UAE real estate deal, the IMF and the World Bank deals. The tourism outlook has improved, wheat prices have halved, and strong remittance growth has returned. With the bulk of household consumption in cash, the investment opportunity for us in fintech is immense in this 100m population country and it will also drive economic formalisation and increased government revenue through widening of the tax net.
KENYA: Continued recovery in tourism, lower soft commodity import prices and a rebound in food exports should provide tailwinds. Corporate expansion into neighbouring countries such as the DRC and Ethiopia, provide significant opportunities for Kenya. Safaricom and Equity Group are the two main drivers. IMF and World Bank support will also allow the country to maintain a strong growth trajectory.
MOROCCO: Morocco’s key economic drivers are mining, agriculture and tourism. Tourism is rebounding with positive indicators for 2026. In terms of outlook, it remains a stable, mid-growth country with excellent opportunities in retail, manufacturing and fintech.
MAURITIUS: Tourism rebounded and growth prospects are positive.
