GOOD MORNING CHOP FAMILY!
The Menu Today:
An African startup just raised $215 million and is one deal away from being a unicorn.
Ghana's social media destroyed an MTN fee in under 24 hours, and the central bank capitulated by morning.
South Korea flew 50 African foreign ministers to Seoul to discuss minerals, because everyone wants what's underground.
And in exactly 7 days, South Africa opens the FIFA World Cup at the Azteca in Mexico City against the hosts.
Wait… Somali pirates are back. Ethiopia held an election. And a Nigerian fintech just bought a ticketing platform in a move that sounds random until you realize it isn't.
Let’s dig in.
⚡ Fresh Fighting Erupts During US-Iran ceasefire talks
Apparently, during a ceasefire, you can still launch missiles and shoot at boats. Because that is exactly what’s happening in the Middle East. Iran launched ballistic missiles into Bahrain and Kuwait, causing major damage and casualties.
Even still, talks go on, and there is some sense of a long-term deal in the near future, and oil traders have remained calm, and prices are staying relatively normal. Stay tuned!
African Proverb of the Day
When spider webs unite, they can tie up a lion.
MARKET MOVES
Africa Just Built an Almost-Billion-Dollar Company Out of Motorcycle Batteries and Boda Bodas
Whether you call them Boda Boda or Okada, they are ubiquitous on African roads, and now Kenyan-based Spiro raised $215 million from European and African investors this week and is now within touching distance of unicorn status, approaching a $1 billion valuation. Bloomberg confirmed the round on June 1.
The numbers are worth stewing over: Spiro has deployed more than 100,000 electric motorcycles across seven African markets and built over 2,500 battery-swapping stations, the largest battery-swap network for electric two-wheelers anywhere on the continent. Manufacturing facilities in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda. A battery recycling plant in Nigeria. Over 1 billion kilometres ridden without emitting a gram of carbon. 30 million battery swaps completed.
The economics and practicality for riders are what make this genuinely interesting. Operating through Spiro's platform reduces daily transport costs by up to 40% compared to a petrol bike, roughly $2 saved per day.
More money for chop.
Our homies at Nairametrics have the full breakdown →
MTN Tried to Charge Ghanaians 0.75% to Move Their Own Money. Ghana Twitter Had Other Plans.
On the evening of May 25, MTN Ghana sent its customers a message: from June 1, 2026, transfers from your MTN MoMo wallet to a bank account would attract a 0.75% fee, capped at GH¢5 per transaction. MTN called it a service improvement initiative. TechCabal had the story within hours.
Ghana called it something else.
Social media went medieval. Consumer advocacy groups threatened legal action. Parliament went into uproar, with both the Majority and Minority, which, for Ghana's parliament, is itself a minor miracle.
The fee revived painful memories of the e-levy, Ghana's deeply unpopular electronic transfer tax that faced sustained public resistance when introduced. By the next morning, the Bank of Ghana had directed MTN Ghana's fintech subsidiary to suspend the fee pending "further consultations."
MTN Ghana
The fee is not dead. It is "under consultation," which in regulatory language means MTN will try again with better framing.
Ghana's mobile money market processed GH¢518.4 billion in transactions in 2025, up 58.3% from the previous year. Wallet-to-bank transfers may be just 7% of that by value, but they connect mobile wallets to the banking system.
A new charge on that connection, however small, changes the economics of financial inclusion.
The Bank of Ghana knows it. So does Ghana Twitter. Innovation Village has the full consumer protection angle →
Quick Bites
→ Mauritius Commercial Bank launches a $1 billion trade finance facility. MCB announced the programme on June 1: a four-year deployment targeting SMEs in agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, and energy across the continent. Intra-African trade is one of the most chronically underfunded areas in the African economy. MCB is one of the continent's most respected banks. Quiet announcement, serious capital, meaningful gap.
→ Nigerian fintech Cloud9 Money just bought a ticketing platform. The strategy is smarter than it sounds. Cloud9 acquired Mtickets for $773,000, embedding credit and payment solutions into event ticketing. Sounds random. It isn't. The endgame is a super-app: book tickets, get a cash advance, pay for the Uber, buy the jollof at the venue. Financial services embedded into how people actually live. Africa's fintech second wave is not just payments. Its presence.
→ South Africa opens the World Cup at the Azteca on June 11. Bafana Bafana face co-hosts Mexico in the tournament opener at the Estadio Azteca in Mexico City, capacity 87,000, the most iconic football stadium in the Americas. The day before, Mamelodi Sundowns won the CAF Champions League. Orlando Pirates won the South African Premiership. South Africa enters the World Cup on an absolute high. The continent is watching.
Global Angle
South Korea Flew 50 African Nations to Seoul. They Didn't Come to Talk About Aid.
On June 1 and 2, the foreign ministers of 50 African nations gathered at Lotte Hotel Seoul for the Korea-Africa Foreign Ministers' Meeting and Business Forum.
The joint statement was diplomatic about it: Africa's strategic importance is "gradually increasing in terms of resources, including maritime shipping routes and critical minerals." The Korea Herald reported roughly 300 participants under the theme "The Future of Shared Prosperity and Joint Growth."
Meaning: Seoul wants what's under Africa's ground. South Korea has already allocated 250 billion won ($172 million) to Korean companies developing overseas mines in 2026, is pushing for a second Korea-Africa Critical Minerals Dialogue, and is positioning itself as an alternative to China, offering technology transfer and local value-addition commitments alongside capital.
The catch is worth noting: South Korea cut its humanitarian aid to Africa by 24% in the same budget cycle that funded its overseas mining programme. As the East Asia Forum noted in March, Seoul's Africa strategy has shifted from development partnership to resource extraction with better branding.
Let’s watch this closely, will African leaders be duped or will they be in control?
Dish of the Day 🥘
🇪🇹 Ethiopia — Doro Wat with Injera
Ethiopia just held its general election. Fifty million people voted. The result was: Abiy Ahmed's party won 457 of 547 seats. Whether you call that democracy, a landslide, or something more complicated is a conversation worth having. Either way, the country deserves its dish.
Ethiopian food is world-renowned. So whenever we get a chance to indulge, we do. And what better dish than Doro Wat with Injera?
This fabulous dish is a slow-simmered, deeply spiced chicken stew steeped in flavor. Berbere is the star of the show, and Injera is the delivery vehicle.
This uniquely Ethiopian spice blend teems with Red chilli, black pepper, fenugreek, ginger, coriander, and cardamom. The whole thing takes hours. It cannot be rushed.
I, on the other hand, rushed my food down my throat and went back for more!
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