CBK links DhowCSD to Clearstream, NGX loses N958.5 billion, South Africa's social grants budget underspent

The NGX All-Share Index fell 0.64% on Thursday, June 25, 2026, closing at 233,580.83 points and pushing market capitalisation down to N149.89 trillion, below the N150 trillion threshold for the first time since the correction began.

Aradel Holdings hit its 10% maximum daily decline limit, falling to N1,575.00 and dragging the NGX Oil & Gas Index down 5.22% while Oando and other oil-linked stocks added further pressure.

Market breadth confirmed broad-based selling with 34 losers against only 14 gainers; trading volume dropped 19.35% to 393.65 million shares, and the NGX's year-to-date return slipped to +50.10%, down from a peak of approximately +57% when the ASI hit its all-time high of 252,508 points in May 2026.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has disclosed a proposed equity investment of up to $15 million in IMG Fund I, a Moroccan private equity fund managed by IMG Capital and targeting a total size of MAD 1.5 billion (approximately $162 million).

The fund will invest in seven to ten lower mid-cap Moroccan companies across healthcare, FMCG, digital infrastructure, financial services, and education, with individual ticket sizes ranging from approximately $6 million to $20 million per deal.

The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority (ECMA) approved the registration of 9,657,286 existing Abay Bank shares held by current shareholders.

The approval became effective on May 11, 2026, with Abay Bank subsequently publishing a prospectus and disclosure documents on its official website per regulatory requirements.

Nigerian retail investors traded ₦2.86 trillion ($2.07 billion) in equities on the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) between January and May 2026, a 138.76% year-on-year increase, now accounting for 36.22% of all trading activity on the exchange.

Mobile-first investing apps, Bamboo, Trove, Risevest, and Cowrywise, are driving the surge by lowering minimum investment sizes. Bamboo overtook institutional firm CardinalStone in April 2026 to become NGX's largest broker by weighted market share, executing 542,582 trades at an average size of just ₦71,609 ($51.89) per trade.

Equity Group shareholders approved a record Ksh21.7 billion dividend at Ksh5.75 per share for the year ended 31 December 2025, a 35.5% increase from the Ksh16.04 billion paid for the 2024 financial year.

The 22nd Annual General Meeting was held virtually, with shareholders also approving Equity's expansion into insurance markets in Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), subject to regulatory approvals.

CEO Dr. James Mwangi noted that more than 50% of the Group's balance sheet and profit contribution now originates from markets outside Kenya, signalling that Equity's regional diversification strategy is delivering measurable results across its subsidiaries.

Austin Laz and Company Plc received shareholder approval at an Extra-Ordinary General Meeting on June 18, 2026, to raise N2.1 billion through a private placement, merger, business combination, or hybrid structure.

The capital raise is tied to a proposed merger with Building Materials Technology Industries (BMT Industries), which has a N3 billion asset base and recorded over N1.6 billion in turnover for 2025. BMT would transfer its production lines, brand, and assets to Austin Laz in exchange for shares in the enlarged company.

New shares would be issued at N5.00 each, a roughly 42% premium to Austin Laz's market price of N3.52 on June 24, 2026, subject to regulatory approvals from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Exchange (NGX).

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has connected its Central Securities Depository (DhowCSD) to Clearstream, a Deutsche Börse Group settlement network, enabling international institutional investors to access Kenyan government bonds, infrastructure bonds, and Treasury bills through a single omnibus account.

CBK says the arrangement is designed to deepen liquidity, broaden the investor base, and improve resilience in Kenya's domestic debt market, which has faced pressure from a heavy government borrowing programme and elevated yields.

Rwanda's Chamber of Deputies, all 63 lawmakers present, unanimously approved a Rwf7.8 trillion national budget for the 2026/27 fiscal year, 12 per cent higher than the revised 2025/26 budget of Rwf6.95 trillion.

Government institutions submitted additional financing requirements beyond earlier projections, prompting a Rwf400 billion reallocation from lower-priority projects to more urgent sectors including agriculture, social protection, feeder roads, classroom construction, and healthcare equipment and staffing.

Domestic revenue and borrowing will finance 93 per cent of the budget, with tax revenues at 56.8 per cent and external borrowing at 25.3 per cent. In comparison, foreign grants contribute just 7 per cent, signalling Rwanda's continued push toward fiscal self-reliance. Economic transformation programmes receive the largest share at Rwf4.9 trillion.

RoboCare, a Sfax-based startup specialising in AI-powered precision agriculture, has secured an undisclosed funding investment from Tunisian venture firm 216 Capital.

The funding will support RoboCare's next growth phase and expansion into African and Middle Eastern markets, with 216 Capital citing alignment with its strategy of backing high-potential tech startups addressing the continent's economic, social, and environmental challenges.

Naspers/Prosus is anchoring a €400M primary and secondary equity investment into Alan, a Paris-based AI-native health insurance platform, with co-investors Teachers' Venture Growth, Index Ventures, and new entrant Dara Holdings.

Alan hit €800M in annual recurring revenue as of Q1 2026, up 53% year-on-year, serves 1.1 million individuals, and is already profitable in France, its largest market.

The deal gives Prosus a foothold in global health tech while Alan gains access to Prosus's international expansion playbook and its Large Commerce Model (LCM) AI infrastructure, with regulatory approval from French financial authorities still pending.

Daya, founded by Tomiwa Lasebikan and Paul Joe in October 2025, raised $2.4 million in a pre-seed round led by Hivemind Capital, with Lattice Fund, Alliance, and Aptos also participating.

African businesses currently juggle multiple providers for local transfers, FX conversion, and international payouts. Daya consolidates all of this into one platform using stablecoin rails, real-time FX, and multi-currency treasury management.

Daya offers an API that allows developers and fintechs to embed cross-border payment and FX capabilities directly into their products with minimal code, lowering the barrier for Nigerian and African platforms to add international payment rails.

Paystack has launched Paystack Index in early access in Nigeria, an experimental product built with TSG Labs that enables users to complete payments through AI agents like Claude, ChatGPT, and OpenClaw.

At launch, Index supports airtime and mobile data purchases across major Nigerian networks, money transfers via Zap, and food ordering through Chowdeck, with transactions processed through Paystack's existing payment infrastructure.

The product does not store card numbers, CVVs, PINs, or bank credentials, and users retain full authorisation control. Paystack says expansion to more merchants, billers, and African markets is planned.

Safaricom has added a Fuliza integration toggle to the M-PESA GlobalPay Virtual Visa Card inside the My OneApp, allowing users to complete international online purchases even when their M-PESA balance runs short.

Enabling Fuliza for GlobalPay means recurring subscriptions like Netflix or Spotify will auto-charge your overdraft without a PIN prompt, potentially accumulating daily Fuliza interest fees silently.

Sulaiman Adewale's Xara AI has launched a Business Account product that collapses invoicing, payroll, delivery tracking, P&L reporting, and stablecoin payments into a single WhatsApp conversation for Nigerian MSMEs.

Xara operates as an orchestration layer on top of regulated banking infrastructure, including Rubies MFB (CBN-licensed), Kuda Bank, PalmPay, and Solana blockchain for cross-border stablecoin settlement.

The Department of Social Development spent R281.1 billion of its R285.9 billion grants budget in 2025/26, leaving R4.8 billion unspent, R3.1 billion of which relates to the R370/month SRD grant that must still be paid to beneficiaries in 2026/27.

SASSA CEO Themba Matlou attributed payment delays to bank verification failures and outdated banking details, while DSD CFO Thandeka Ngcobo credited improved administration, but MPs from the DA and Patriotic Alliance challenged whether stricter biometric and life certification checks are unlawfully excluding eligible poor South Africans.

Minister of Solid Minerals Development Dele Alake publicly announced for the first time the discovery of a polymetallic mineral province in Kaduna State containing platinum group metals, gold, nickel, copper, lithium, and rare earth elements, verified by the Nigerian Geological Survey Agency (NGSA).

The mining sector's annual revenue grew from approximately N6 billion before the current administration to over N38 billion in 2024 and exceeded N70 billion by end of 2025. Active investments cited include an $800 million lithium processing project, a $600 million lithium facility in Nasarawa State, a $200 million lithium plant near Abuja, and a $1 billion iron ore-to-steel project in Kogi State. Separately, Steron Mining unveiled an estimated 3.3 million metric tonnes of lithium reserves at its Abuja site, with total mineral resources of about 94.8 million metric tonnes identified at that location.

Nigeria, ranked seventh among nine countries that account for 83% of global gas flaring, alongside Russia, Iran, Iraq, Venezuela, Mexico, Libya, Algeria, and the United States.

The World Bank's 2025 Global Gas Flaring Tracker Report found global flare volumes rose to 167 billion cubic metres, the highest since 2019, with Nigeria flaring approximately nine billion cubic metres despite years of policy efforts to reduce the practice.

Gas flaring is widespread across Nigeria's Niger Delta, driven by inadequate infrastructure to capture, process, or transport associated gas from crude oil extraction; residents near facilities like the Heirs Energies plant in Oyigbo, Rivers State face daily pollution, health risks, and economic hardship.

WayaWaya founder Teddy Ogallo says Ajua, a customer experience startup, falsely announced it had acquired his Kenyan AI company on April 28, 2021, a claim he has spent years disputing with documentation including shareholder records, legal correspondence, and consultancy agreements.

Ogallo signed a personal consultancy agreement with Ajua in March 2021 as VP for Product APIs and Integrations, and transferred software he personally owned, an integration platform called Janja, to Ajua. He says WayaWaya was never part of any deal.