Pepkor will combine its fintech subsidiary Flash with merchant platform Shop2Shop to create a new business called FintechCo, while Kenya has introduced mandatory one-year warranties for mobile phones and other communications devices. In other African technology and telecoms developments, M-KOPA says it has reached 10 million customers across five markets, and Zimbabwe-based Dolphin Telecoms is preparing to launch in South Africa as a cross-border mobile virtual network operator.

Pepkor to merge Flash and Shop2Shop into FintechCo

Pepkor, the South African retailer behind brands including PEP and Ackermans, announced on Wednesday that it will merge Flash, its fintech subsidiary, with merchant platform Shop2Shop. The transaction values the combined business at R21.3 billion ($1.3 billion).

Under the deal, Pepkor will inject R1.57 billion ($95 million) in cash and fold Flash, valued at R10.6 billion ($640 million), into the combined entity. The structure will give Pepkor a 57.1% controlling stake in the new company, which the retailer said will be called “FintechCo.”

Flash has built one of South Africa’s largest value-added services networks, enabling merchants to sell airtime, data bundles, prepaid electricity, gaming vouchers, bill payments, and other products. Shop2Shop serves merchants through tools that help them accept digital payments, manage cash, order inventory, and access other business services.

Together, Flash and Shop2Shop process more than R200 billion ($12 billion) in annual transaction value across South Africa’s formal and informal economy.

The deal advances Pepkor’s strategy to expand beyond discount retail. Clothing and household goods remain its largest business, but financial services have become a growing contributor. In the first half of Pepkor’s 2026 financial year, its “Financial Services” business generated R3.0 billion ($182 million) in revenue, up 41.6% year-on-year.

Flash is now part of Pepkor’s Informal Market Platform, where transaction volumes increased 20.3% to R34.7 billion ($2.1 billion). Connectivity is also part of Pepkor’s broader ecosystem strategy. By September 2024, the retailer had sold 11.5 million handsets, creating more opportunities to cross-sell lending, insurance, airtime, and other financial services to customers already within its network.

The combination is also a merchant acquisition play. South Africa’s informal retail economy, which includes hundreds of thousands of spaza shops and independent traders, still handles large volumes of cash even as digital payments continue to grow. Flash already reaches many of those merchants through prepaid products, while Shop2Shop helps merchants digitise day-to-day operations. The move places Pepkor in closer competition with dedicated payments players such as Yoco and Ozow, as well as bank-backed offerings, by building a standalone fintech with both consumer distribution and merchant infrastructure.

Pepkor has said it plans to list FintechCo separately in the medium term, likely on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. A listing would create a standalone payments company while allowing Pepkor to retain control through its majority stake. It would also come as African fintech companies continue to attract investor interest, with several exploring public listings or secondary rounds after a decade of venture-led growth.

Kenya requires one-year warranties for phones, laptops, and other devices

Kenya has introduced new rules requiring every mobile phone, laptop, tablet, and several other communications devices sold in the country to come with at least a one-year warranty and a return policy.

The rules, issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya, the country’s telecom regulator, also require sellers to repair faulty devices during the warranty period. Sellers that fail to comply risk penalties starting at KES 500,000 ($3,900) or 0.2% of annual turnover, whichever is higher.

Until now, warranty coverage in Kenya often depended on where a device was purchased. Customers buying from official Samsung or Apple stores were more likely to receive a manufacturer’s warranty, while purchases from smaller electronics shops or online sellers could come with only a 30-day or 90-day shop warranty, particularly for devices imported through unofficial channels or sold as refurbished.

The new rules make sellers responsible for devices they sell for at least 12 months, whether the device is brand new or refurbished. Refurbished devices must be clearly labelled as refurbished. Online sellers must provide a physical address customers can visit, and every receipt must include the device’s serial number and warranty details. The labelling and warranty requirements could reshape Kenya’s refurbished device trade, which has grown as a lower-cost entry point for smartphone adoption but has operated with limited standardised consumer protections.

The warranty rules are part of a broader regulatory push to tighten oversight of Kenya’s electronics market. On Tuesday, the Communications Authority introduced a new telecom equipment licence for companies importing and distributing communications equipment. The regulator is now extending scrutiny to retailers that sell those devices to consumers, with the aim of documenting each step from importation to final sale.

Kenya’s smartphone adoption has grown sharply. The country had 50.2 million smartphone connections as of March 2026, up from 29.5 million in 2023. As smartphones increasingly serve as tools for banking, work, education, and entertainment, device reliability and after-sales support have become more closely tied to livelihoods.

M-KOPA says it has reached 10 million customers across Africa

M-KOPA, the fintech company that provides smartphone financing and digital services, says it has reached 10 million customers across five African markets. The company took eight years of operations to reach its first million customers and six additional years to add the next nine million.

The Kenyan-born fintech began in 2011 by selling solar home systems to off-grid households. It now operates across Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and South Africa, and says it has sold 10 million smartphones.

M-KOPA says it is onboarding more than 10,000 new customers daily and has deployed more than $2.5 billion in credit since it was founded.

The company’s model targets customers in the informal sector, many of whom earn daily income and often lack payslips or collateral required by banks. M-KOPA sells smartphones through daily repayment plans. If a customer misses payments, the device can be locked, and the company uses repayment behaviour to build a credit profile. Customers who demonstrate repayment capacity can later access loans, insurance, and other financial services. This pay-as-you-go approach, which M-KOPA pioneered with solar home systems, has since been adopted by a range of African fintechs as a template for financing productive assets for customers outside the formal banking system.

M-KOPA reported its first-ever profit in 2024, with revenue rising 66% to $416 million. In January 2023, it built a smartphone assembly facility in Nairobi that now produces more than 2 million devices annually, helping reduce costs.

The company’s model, which began with solar panels in Kenyan villages, has now expanded across five countries with different economic conditions. Its 10 million-customer milestone reflects the growing role of fintech companies serving Africa’s informal economy through device financing and related financial services.

Dolphin Telecoms to launch as a cross-border MVNO in South Africa

Dolphin Telecoms, a Zimbabwe-based company, is launching in South Africa on August 5 as a mobile virtual network operator. The company aims to make it easier for Africans living abroad to buy airtime for family members back home.

An MVNO is a mobile operator that rents network capacity from existing carriers rather than building its own towers. Dolphin will operate on Cell C, South Africa’s third-largest mobile network.

Dolphin already operates in Zimbabwe, where it became the country’s first licensed MVNO in 2022 after investing $15 million. Its South African service will focus on cross-border airtime gifting, allowing, for example, a Zimbabwean living in South Africa to send airtime to a relative in Harare.

Dolphin Telecoms South Africa has completed a soft launch and is scheduled to go live in August as an MVNO targeting cross-border communities. The company is positioning its service around users whose communications needs extend across two countries.

South Africa’s MVNO market has been expanding. Cell C has more than 5.1 million MVNO subscribers and has built a wholesale business around the segment. The market is projected to reach 14.4 million SIMs by 2030.

Dolphin’s focus comes as cross-border payments remain costly in some corridors. Sending money from South Africa to Zimbabwe can cost as much as 12.7% in fees. The South Africa–Zimbabwe corridor is one of the busiest remittance routes in southern Africa, reflecting a large Zimbabwean migrant population in South Africa. Dolphin is betting that designing specifically for border-crossing communities, rather than adding remittance-like features later, can support a differentiated mobile service.

Other South African MVNOs have built businesses by targeting specific customer groups. Capitec Bank’s MVNO, Capitec Connect, bundles banking and mobile services and is one of South Africa’s fastest-growing MVNOs. Dolphin’s approach is narrower, focusing on cross-border airtime gifting. If successful, the model could be applied to other corridors such as Ghana-Nigeria, Kenya-Uganda, and South Africa-Mozambique.

Crypto tracker

The World Wide Web3 tracker listed percentage movements as of 06:35 AM WAT on July 23, 2026. The source table included the following figures: -0.57%, +3.64%, +0.03%, +12.48%, +0.18%, +2.02%, +0.06%, and +9.34%.

Events and related coverage

ForgeTech Summit 2026 is scheduled for July 31 and is positioned as a curated gathering for investors, founders, policymakers, and enterprise leaders focused on technology, capital, policy, and innovation across Africa and beyond.

TechCabal also listed related coverage including “My Life In Tech: Audrey Chanakira believes the best technology begins with listening,” “Airtel Nigeria expands retail network as demand for digital services rises,” and “MTN’s $9.1 million network push takes South Africa’s 5G race beyond metros.”

The original newsletter was written by Emmanuel Nwosu and Zia Yusuf and edited by Emmanuel Nwosu and Ganiu Oloruntade.