Hej,
Victoria from Techpoint here,
Here’s what I’ve got for you today:
- Telecel Zimbabwe goes up for sale under pressure
- Building African solutions for African businesses
- KRA says M-Pesa tax loophole is officially closed
Telecel Zimbabwe goes up for sale under pressure
Telecel Zimbabwe is officially on the market, but not under the best circumstances. Last week, corporate rescue practitioners from Grant Thornton, one of the largest accounting networks globally, invited investors to bid for a stake in the struggling telecom operator as it tries to exit a court-supervised rehabilitation process that began in October 2025. Interested buyers have until April 28, 2026, to submit offers, with more detailed financials only available after signing NDAs.
The company is deep in trouble, sitting on more than $240 million in debt and facing possible liquidation if no deal comes through. Its customer base has also taken a big hit, dropping to just over 319,000 subscribers by mid-2025, another sign of how far it’s fallen.
What’s being sold isn’t just a telco; it’s a business under serious pressure. Telecel Zimbabwe is the country’s third-largest operator, but that ranking doesn’t say much anymore. Its subscriber base has been shrinking steadily, and its market share has dropped to under 2%, far behind rivals like Econet Wireless and NetOne.
The infrastructure tells an even tougher story. Telecel’s network is a fraction of its competitors’, with just a handful of LTE base stations and no 5G rollout in sight. Any investor coming in isn’t just buying customers; they’re taking on the cost of rebuilding an entire network in a challenging economic environment. The one bright spot might be Telecash, its mobile money platform, but even that faces stiff competition from Econet’s dominant EcoCash.
Why this matters goes beyond one company. If Telecel fails to attract a buyer, Zimbabwe’s telecom market could effectively shrink to a two-player game. And in a sector where competition drives better pricing and service, losing a player could tilt the balance even further toward the dominant operators.
Getting here has been a long, messy process. Telecel started in 1998 as a joint venture but ran into years of ownership disputes. Things fell apart when Zimbabwe’s indigenisation laws clashed with foreign ownership. By 2015, the government struck a deal to buy out Telecel International’s 60% stake from VimpelCom (which had taken over) for $40 million, but didn’t actually have the money. Around the same time, employees were prematurely told the state-owned ZARNet had taken over and that they were now civil servants.
Victoria Fakiya – Senior Writer
Techpoint Digest
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The deal was formally completed in April 2016, and even then, it was disputed. The Empowerment Corporation, which still held 40%, argued the sale was illegal because it ignored their right of first refusal and broke the shareholder agreement. That legal uncertainty never really went away. After the takeover, without foreign investment or technical backing, the network deteriorated steadily.
Now, six months into its rescue process, this sale is a last attempt to keep it alive. Whether investors see potential or just problems will determine what happens next, not just for Telecel, but for the future shape of Zimbabwe’s telecom market
Building African solutions for African businesses
Sometimes, the people who end up building in tech didn’t even plan to be there. That’s the case with Chuma Chukwujama, whose first real encounter with technology came in the late 1990s, when personal computers were just starting to show up in Nigeria. At the time, he was finishing up at Obafemi Awolowo University, studying Electrical and Electronics Engineering, but was already certain he didn’t want to follow the traditional engineering path.
Instead, he leaned into a gap he could see. Nigeria was opening up economically, and businesses were beginning to adopt computers, even if slowly. Chukwujama started by helping companies digitise their operations, setting up systems, building networks, and essentially bringing organisations online at a time when that was still new territory.
But that phase didn’t last long. After a few years, it became clear that the work was becoming standardised, and he needed to evolve. Working closely with banks and telecom companies, he noticed something: while many relied on foreign software, key areas like payroll and HR weren’t quite working for local realities. That insight pushed him to pivot into software development, eventually launching AlliedSoft around 2000 and building everything from telecom tools to banking and education platforms.
That journey, from systems integration to software, and later cloud-based solutions, eventually led to Xceed365HR, a platform designed for mid-sized and large African businesses. It’s a story of adapting with the times, spotting gaps, and building for context. For more on how that journey unfolded, check out Delight’s latest in After Hours for Techpoint Africa.
KRA says M-Pesa tax loophole is officially closed
Kenya’s tax authority has finally said the quiet part out loud: it knows what small traders have been doing, and it’s no longer looking away. On April 24, 2026, Kenya Revenue Authority acting boss Lilian Nyawanda confirmed that businesses rotating M-Pesa paybills and till numbers to hide income are now firmly on the radar. In simple terms, switching accounts to dodge taxes? That trick isn’t working anymore.
The reason is straightforward, and a bit unsettling if you’ve been playing that game. Every M-Pesa transaction creates two records — one for the sender and one for the receiver. That means even if a trader doesn’t declare income, the system can still trace it from the other side. So while businesses thought they were disappearing by switching tills, the money trail never actually went anywhere.
At the centre of this crackdown is eTIMS, the Electronic Tax Invoice Management System, which has quietly evolved into Kenya’s real-time tax engine. Introduced in 2023, it now links sales, invoices, and payments into a single verification loop. If you’re doing business and filing zero or low returns, the system can flag the mismatch almost instantly. It’s less about catching people after the fact and more about watching transactions as they happen.
Why the sudden urgency? Kenya has a massive revenue gap, estimated at KSh930 billion, and the government is under pressure to close it. Informal trade, especially in hubs like Eastleigh, sits right at the centre of that problem. When suppliers don’t issue proper digital receipts, it doesn’t just affect them; it disrupts the entire chain, stopping other businesses from claiming legitimate tax deductions.
This didn’t happen overnight. Over the past three years, KRA has been building toward this moment: rolling out eTIMS, onboarding hundreds of thousands of taxpayers, and trying (with mixed success) to get smaller traders to comply. But with a leadership change in April 2026 and a clear May 1 deadline for issuing electronic receipts, the tone has shifted. What used to be education and encouragement is now enforcement.
There’s also an irony here that’s hard to miss. The same mobile money system that helped millions of Kenyans enter the financial system is now what makes them visible to the taxman. Digital payments created the data. eTIMS connected the dots. And now, for traders who’ve operated in the gaps, that space is closing fast.
In case you missed it
What I’m watching
Opportunities
- Flutterwave is hiring for several roles in Nigeria, the UK, and the US. Apply here.
- ABDS 2026 will take place April 29–30, 2026, in Lagos, gathering founders, investors, developers, and policymakers shaping Africa’s blockchain and Web3 ecosystem. The summit focuses on industry insights, partnerships, and investment opportunities in one of the world’s fastest-growing crypto markets. Secure your pass or sponsorship here.
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- Moniepoint is hiring for over 100 roles. Apply here.
- Building a startup can feel isolating, but with Equity Merchants CommunityConnect? You can network with fellow founders, experts, and investors, gaining valuable insights and exclusive resources to help you grow your business. Click here to join.
- To pitch your startup or product to a live audience, check out this link.
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Have a productive week!
Victoria Fakiya for Techpoint Africa
