Hi there and welcome to Daba’s weekly Next Frontier newsletter.

Here's a quick preview of today’s newsletter: Gates commits $200B to Africa, Moniepoint staff cash in equity, Japan eyes Africa’s minerals, and Ghana’s cedi is 2025’s top currency.

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Now, let’s dive in.

Markets Snapshot

Daba indexes track curated stock collections—all available to invest in directly on the app.

The best-performing BRVM stocks of the week by share price increase—all available to invest in directly on the app.

Data as of 06/06/2025 market close

Equities across major African exchanges posted mixed performance this week, with notable strength in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa while Ghana and Malawi corrected. Read our weekly markets recap here.

Four Things You Need to Know

Gates pledge: Bill Gates is redirecting the Gates Foundation’s $200B endowment toward Africa, pledging long-term support for health and education. As U.S. aid shrinks, Gates warns of preventable deaths and urges African-led resilience over donor dependence, sparking debate on billionaire-driven philanthropy’s influence on development priorities.

Equity cashout: Moniepoint employees quietly sold shares worth up to $850,000 during a $110M raise, spotlighting rare liquidity in African tech. With IPOs elusive, structured secondaries are becoming a crucial retention tool, though access remains limited to senior staff in a still-nascent equity culture.

Tokyo pivot: Japan is repositioning itself in Africa, investing in critical minerals and green tech as it decouples from China. With U.S. aid waning, Tokyo’s blend of private capital and sustained development support could make it a long-term player in Africa’s industrial future.

Cedi comeback: Ghana’s cedi surged nearly 50% in 2025, becoming the world’s best-performing currency on stronger exports, IMF support, and tighter policy. The rally signals a broader recovery from past fiscal crises, but inflation risks and structural fragility still loom over the country’s macroeconomic outlook.

Headline Roundup

Markets & Finance

• Equities Rebound in Nairobi and Lagos as BRVM, Accra Retreat

• Foreign Investment in Nigerian Equities Drops 92% in April

• Casablanca Stock Exchange Launches MASI 20 Index Futures

Economy & Macro

• Ghana Inflation Falls to 18.4% as Soaring Cedi Eases Import Costs

• Zimbabwe Authorizes Killing of 50 Elephants to Manage Population

• Moody’s Upgrades Nigeria’s Rating on Better External, Fiscal Positions

• Kenya to Repatriate Health Data After Trump-Era USAID Cuts

• Ivory Coast Opposition Leader Thiam Barred from Presidential Race

Corporate & M&A

• Koulou Gold Gets $13M to Expand Exploration in Côte d’Ivoire

• Starlink Now Live in 22 African Countries After DRC Launch

• Kenya Clears Acquisition of Sumac Microfinance by Moniepoint

• dLocal to Acquire Fintech Aza Finance in Potential $150M Deal

• PalmPay Reportedly in Talks for $100M as It Expands Across Africa

VC, Startups & Tech

• Expensya Founders Raise $9M for New Startup Thunder Code

• Kumulus Water Gets $3.5M to Scale Off-Grid Atmospheric Water Tech

• Salpha Energy Secures $1.3M from Shell-Backed All On to Scale

• South Africa’s Botlhale AI Builds Speech Tech for African Languages

• African Mobility Startups See Steady Deals But Funding Drops 69%

Must-Reads on Daba

• What To Do When Your Stock Portfolio Is Suffering a Loss

• A Comprehensive Guide to Mutual Funds for Beginners

• How to Invest in African Bonds: A Guide for Investors

• Investing in African IPOs: A Beginner’s Manual on How it Works

Chart of the Week

It’s easy to overlook the French-speaking part of Africa when the fintech spotlight and capital tend to focus on Nigeria, Kenya, or South Africa.

But quietly, steadily, francophone Africa is becoming the next big thing in African fintech.

The group comprises 29 French-speaking countries—21 of them known as francophone, which use French as their official language or as one of their languages.

Most people in the region don’t have traditional bank accounts, with banking penetration below 30% in several countries, while only 1 in 10 adults in the Western part has access to formal credit.

Now, that’s starting to change thanks to the emergence of mobile-first startups, rising digital demand, and evolving regulation.

In our latest Pulse54 newsletter, we dive into why francophone Africa is fast becoming the continent’s next fintech growth zone. Visit our Substack to read more.

That’s it for today.

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Catch you next week!