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The Naira Life Conference is almost here!

We’re down to the final days. Tomorrow, professionals, entrepreneurs, investors, and creators will gather at The Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos, for a full day of honest conversations about making, growing, and protecting money.

Want to earn more, build wealth, or grow a business? Learn how to increase your market value, get practical advice on stocks, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies, build your first portfolio, and discover what it really takes to turn a hustle into a wealth engine.

The room only has a few seats left. Don’t wait until it’s too late to secure a ticket.

Get your Naira Life Conference ticket.

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Quizzes
Uber, Bolt aren’t banned from Nigerian airports—yet
Comsol is building a wholesale 5G network for SA
Who secured the bag?
World Wide Web 3
Events

Economy

Uber and Bolt aren’t banned from Nigerian airports, yet

Have you ever tried ordering a ride after landing at Nigeria’s Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) and watched the little car icons on your app multiply until it looked like a huge pile-up? FAAN wants to bring some order to that chaos.

What happened? The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), the regulator that manages Nigeria’s commercial airports, has said it is speaking to ride-hailing companies, including Bolt and Uber, about a framework that would allow them to pick up passengers at airports while meeting the authority’s safety and operational requirements.

FAAN added that until those agreements are signed, Uber and Bolt do not have formal approval to pick up passengers from Nigerian airport terminals.

Explain like I’m new here: This is all part of FAAN’s master plan to digitise airport access systems and turn airport transport into something it can manage.

In March, it fully activated its cashless policy at airport access points, where airport users were required to obtain a FAAN electronic payment card that must be scanned at entry points.

In June, it launched the Airport Car Hire Rank Management System (ACHRAMS) at MMIA to register and track airport car-hire operators.

So what does FAAN want and why? It wants control and visibility over commercial transport operating on airport property. FAAN said it has received complaints about touting and passenger solicitation around airports and wants commercial transport providers operating on its turf to be identifiable and accountable.

Where does that leave you? For now, don’t delete Uber or Bolt. FAAN has said that ACHRAMS is not an e-hailing app designed to compete with ride-sharing platforms, but until agreements are completed, Uber, Bolt, and other ride-hailing platforms don’t have formal approval to pick up passengers from Nigerian airport terminals.

Every business owner needs to watch this.

The business questions you Google, answered by experts. Watch for free.

Telecoms

Network access provider Comsol is building a wholesale 5G network for South Africa

South Africa is getting another 5G network, but this one has a slightly different plan. Comsol, a South African telecom company, is building the network and selling access to other businesses.

What happened? Comsol has started selling wholesale access to a national 5G network built specifically for home broadband. The network will be available to Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs), and other resellers, while Comsol stays behind the scenes handling the infrastructure.

Explain like I’m new here: Normally, a telecom company builds the network and sells the internet service directly to customers. Comsol, however, builds and operates the 5G network that an ISP or MVNO can use to create a home broadband package, decide what to charge, and sell it under its own brand.

What’s interesting: South Africa already has a mature 5G market. MTN and Vodacom launched the country’s first 5G networks in 2020, while Telkom and Rain have also built 5G offerings. In 2022, MTN had the fastest median 5G download speed, according to GSMA. Comsol wants to become the network that other businesses can use to compete with these heavyweights.

We’ve seen this before: Ghana’s Next-Gen InfraCo (NGIC) launched in 2024 as a shared 4G/5G infrastructure company and commenced operations in March, with the idea that mobile operators and Internet providers could use one national network instead of each building everything themselves.

Comsol is doing something similar, although its network is focused on 5G home broadband rather than being a shared mobile network for the whole country.

What does this mean for you? An interesting thing to look out for will be the price. Comsol hasn’t disclosed what it will charge its wholesale partners, and those partners will still have to add their own costs and margins.

A wholesale network could make connectivity cheaper by spreading infrastructure costs across providers, but it doesn’t guarantee cheaper Internet for you.

Naira Life 2026 is here!

The Naira Life Conference 2026 is bringing together Nigeria’s top finance minds, industry leaders, creators, and business strategists for a full-day of specialised sessions and masterclasses designed for ambitious Nigerians who want to make, keep, grow, and pass on real wealth. Happening on August 22 at the Jewel Aeida, Lekki, Lagos. Secure a seat in the room.

Insights

Funding Tracker

Terra Industries, a Nigerian defence-tech startup, raised $18 million in seed funding. The investment came from existing investors 8VC, Silent Ventures, Nova Global, Belief Capital, and SV Angel, alongside new investors Norleo Space Investments and angel investor Grant Gordon. (Aug 17)

Here are the other deals for the week:

Pouchers, a Nigerian stablecoin-powered payments platform, raised $500,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by Stack Directory LLC, a Dubai-based internet investment company, with participation from other strategic angel investors. (Aug 17)
Jem, a South African workforce management startup, raised $8.4 million in Series A funding led by Quona Capital, with participation from University Technology Fund, E4E, Next176/FutureGrowth, and angel investors including former Old Mutual CEO Iain Williamson. (Aug 18)
Yellow, a Malawi fintech startup, raised an undisclosed amount in Series C funding from Convergence Partners. (Aug 20)

That’s all for this week. Before you go, Nigeria has taught entrepreneurship for years, but is it actually producing economic outcomes? Find out here.

Moonshot is back!

Moonshot 2026 is coming! Join us at the National Theatre, Lagos on October 28 & 29 for two days of tech and innovation. Grab your early bird tickets now and get 15% off.

CRYPTO TRACKER

The World Wide Web3

Source:

Coin Name	Current Value	Day	Month
Bitcoin	$75,224	+ 8.05%	+ 13.75%
Ether	$2,356	+ 4.67%	+ 22.49%
Aligned	$0.01948	– 44.43%	– 44.43%
Solana	$89.73	+ 5.62%	+ 15.57%

* Data as of 06.35 AM WAT, August 21, 2026.

Events

Condia is bringing together founders, payment leaders, regulators, investors, and businesses for The Borderless Experience, an event exploring the future of cross-border payments, travel, and commerce in Africa. Taking place today, in Lagos, Nigeria, the event will focus on practical, operator-led conversations around payment infrastructure, AI, stablecoins, market expansion, and the realities of building across African markets. Register here to attend.

Written by: Yemi Kareem and Success Sotonwa

Edited by: Emmanuel Nwosu & Ganiu Oloruntade

Want more of TechCabal?

The Next Wave: futuristic analysis of the business of tech in Africa.
Francophone Weekly by TechCabal: insider insights and analysis of Francophone’s tech ecosystem

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