TechCabal Daily – OPay wants $336 million

OPay, the cellular cash fintech big working in Nigeria, plans to sell 16 million American depositary shares (ADSs) for $19 to $21 every on the New York Stock Exchange, the place it plans to commerce underneath the ticker OPAY. Each ADS represents 10 extraordinary OPay shares. 

Explain like I’m new right here: In May, Bloomberg reported that OPay was working with main banks on a possible US itemizing that might worth the corporate at round $4 billion. 

At the time, that was nonetheless a private-market estimate. Now, OPay is placing an precise worth vary in entrance of public buyers.

The fintech’s final valuation was in 2021, when it raised $400 million at a $2 billion valuation. Since then, the corporate has grown its funds enterprise and expanded its consumer base. In H1 2026, OPay’s income greater than doubled year-on-year to $806 million. 

Standard Bank, by way of its subsidiary Stanbic Africa Holdings, can also be investing up to $200 million in OPay by way of a separate share buy, giving the fintech a strategic institutional investor because it makes the transition.

Starlink, the Elon Musk-owned satellite tv for pc Internet service supplier, has been in regulatory limbo in South Africa. Its service is just not formally out there within the nation, however South Africans have managed to make use of it anyway. Now, that workaround goes to vanish.

What occurred? Starlink has started enforcing a journey registration requirement for purchasers utilizing its worldwide roaming service in South Africa. Some customers who have been nonetheless getting Internet by way of imported Starlink kits have acquired notifications asking them to register their journey particulars or lose entry.

Explain like I’m new right here: The Internet supplier has been caught up in a regulatory dispute over how it might meet the nation’s necessities for international firms working within the telecommunications market, together with guidelines round black financial empowerment (BEE) and possession. 

Starlink offered to invest in South Africa as a workaround to forestall giving up fairness. A rule permitting international telecom suppliers to function within the nation has confronted fierce political opposition, conserving Starlink locked out. 

What’s the shortcut? South Africans purchased Starlink {hardware} and registered their accounts in international locations the place the service was formally out there. They then used Starlink Roam, a function for purchasers who take their Starlink package with them whereas travelling. 

Why does Starlink care? For some time, Starlink let this slide. South African customers might hold connecting despite the fact that the service wasn’t formally supported domestically. That began altering in 2024, when Starlink started imposing a 60-day continuous-use restrict in South Africa. 

For some customers, that allowance was later decreased to 30 days and ultimately as little as seven days. The newest journey registration requirement provides Starlink one other solution to establish who is definitely travelling and who’s utilizing Roam as a workaround.

So, what now? South Africans counting on roaming ought to anticipate that path to develop into tough to make use of. Starlink’s registration course of requires info equivalent to a buyer’s title, nationality, date of start, and government-issued identification, making it a lot more durable to disguise a everlasting South African consumer as a traveller.