👨🏿‍🚀TechCabal Daily – Access Bank acquires Standard Chartered Tanzania

Elon Musk has planted Starlink’s flag in Lesotho, a country “nobody has heard of,” according to Donald Trump. On Monday, Starlink went live in the country, and resellers have started legally selling kits.

Lesotho is under pressure after USAID cuts and a 50% hike in import tariffs—the highest tariff levied on any country. Since then, job losses have piled up in healthcare and the once-thriving textile sector. Lesotho’s garment sector employs 30,000 people and contributes heavily to the country’s $2 billion gross domestic product (GDP). 

At the heart of Starlink’s operations in Lesotho is T‑Connect, which has been licenced to resell Starlink kits. Backed by a 10-year licence and fresh to the market, the company promises to build AI-powered data centres and bring high-speed, low-cost internet to even the most remote schools.

The decision to grant Starlink a licence wasn’t without controversy. Local telecoms like Vodacom Lesotho and advocacy group Section Two pushed back on Starlink’s licence application, insisting that foreign players should include local ownership like other global internet providers have. Yet, the country’s Prime Minister defended the approval, framing it as part of a broader plan to attract US investment and negotiate trade relief.

But Lesotho’s economy is still reeling from the funding cuts and tariff hikes. Other internet providers, including Econet Telecom Lesotho and Vodacom Lesotho, still struggle under high costs and the challenging terrain. 

Starlink may offer Lesotho a lifeline, but its sustainability is unproven amid shaky macroeconomic foundations, political pushback over foreign dominance, and affordability hurdles.

Access Bank is still under regulatory forbearance, a measure imposed by Nigeria’s Central Bank (CBN), that restricts certain financial actions like paying dividends, awarding bonuses to senior executives, or investing in foreign subsidiaries. This directive, issued in June 2025, is part of efforts to strengthen capital generation within the banking sector.

But on Monday, Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest lender by assets, quietly announced on one of its Instagram accounts that it has completed the acquisition of Standard Chartered Tanzania’s consumer, private, and business banking division.

This acquisition is key for Access Bank’s expansion across Africa, strengthening its earnings and fueling its ambition to become a pan-African heavyweight.

So, how does a bank under CBN’s restriction close an offshore deal? The answer: timing. Although it comes just weeks before Access is expected to exit forbearance on June 30, the deal itself predates the CBN directive. Access and Standard Chartered first announced this divestment back in 2022.

Standard Chartered, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom, has been gradually exiting select African markets to refocus its global wealth management and improve its profit. 

Since 2022, Access Bank has been the buyer. Starting with the acquisition of the international bank’s Angolan and Sierra Leonean subsidiaries. Then a few days after CBN’s June directive, the bank assumed ownership of Standard Chartered’s Gambian operations, ending its 130-year presence in The Gambia. And now, it has taken over the international bank’s Tanzanian division.

Yet, the timing raises the question: will the CBN consider this a violation, or let it pass since the groundwork was laid years ago?

Bonjour!

Benin feels reminiscent of Lagos to me. Afterall, Lagos is just 2 hours 35 minutes away. Yesterday, the Cyber Africa Forum opened in style, as everyone turned up looking their best.

Panelists talked about everything from the need for patient and blended capital on the continent, to how AI is driving growth in Africa’s economy, and how you and I might be the weakest link for Cybersecurity. 

During a panel discussion, investors argued that the continent needed more patient capital. However, over 80% of the funds on the continent are from foreign investors and the continent might need to turn to local investors to find patient capital. However, local investors are yet to catch on with the concept of VC investing. Panellists also agreed that getting local investors acclimatised with the concept of VC investing could close the gap for patient capital on the continent. 

One of my favourite conversations at the event was Irene Auma, Visa’s Head of Risk in Africa session on the state of cybersecurity on the continent. According to her presentation slides, across the world, $1.3 trillion is lost to cybercriminals annually. These threats have been exacerbated by advancements in AI and deepfakes, exploitation of technology and customers being the weakest link. Yes, you read right. VISA’s Head of Risk says you and I are the weakest link in Cybersecurity threats. Auma’s point was reinforced when the head of MTN Benin, Uche Ofodile, shared during another panel how she almost fell for a phishing test her company’s IT was running. 

Day 1 closed out with panellists on the AI topic divided over whether or not Africa should have sovereign data for its AI. While the four panel team argued for and against data sovereignty, one question stuck out for me: is there a market for sovereign AI data in Africa? Think on that and let me know what you think.

See you tomorrow. Au revoir!

If you live in Lagos and always get stressed when someone asks, “Where do you live?”, and you start thinking of how to say, “Behind the mango tree, after the green fence,” some joy might be coming your way.

The Lagos State Government has launched a digital house-numbering system to fix the city’s long-standing address problem. Each building will get a plate with a QR code that reveals its exact location and official details. This should make it easier for ambulances to find homes, delivery workers to stop calling ten times, and utility companies to stop guessing.

But the reason for this ambition is not as romantic as you think. The government wants to track citizens who don’t pay their taxes. This digitisation effort helps it to identify who owns what and who should be paying taxes for what they own.

The project, called the “Lagos Identity Project,” is part of the state’s push for a smart city. It uses aerial mapping done over two years by Interspatial and is being rolled out by trained local youths through the Ibile programme. The government says it meets global privacy and data standards and includes Know Your Customer (KYC) features for verification.

The pilot is underway in Eti-Osa and Ikeja, with plans to expand statewide. If it succeeds, Lagos could gain better planning, service delivery, and revenue. 

But it also means that once your home is tagged and scanned, your relationship with the state changes. It becomes more structured, more visible, and far more official.