Nigerian cross-border payments platform Grey processed $61.4 million in total payment volume through its B2B product, Grey Business, in the four months since its February 2026 launch. USDC and USDT now represent the platform's single largest payment channel, outpacing traditional bank transfers. Across the continent, Lesotho signed a binding memorandum of understanding with US developer Convalt Energy for a $6.2 billion hydropower and AI data centre project, and Tunis-based private equity firm AfricInvest began a phased exit from Côte d'Ivoire integrated logistics and transport group Centaures.

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Grey Business: Stablecoins Displace Bank Rails in Four Months

Grey Business, the SME and startup-focused arm of cross-border fintech Grey, launched at Africa Tech Summit Nairobi on February 10, 2026. By June, it had processed $61.4 million across USD corporate accounts, multi-currency payments, FX conversion, and stablecoin transfers. Nigeria leads the platform by transaction count. Western Europe and the Middle East generate the highest transaction values.

The speed at which stablecoins took the top spot surprised even the company's leadership. "Stablecoins being our largest payment channel wasn't something we projected this early," said CEO and co-founder Idorenyin Obong. "What we've seen on the platform is businesses using stablecoins not as a workaround but as their primary cross-border rail."

Stablecoins are dollar-pegged digital tokens, primarily USDT (Tether) and USDC (USD Coin), that businesses use to send and receive payments on blockchain networks without exposure to crypto price swings. For African companies, the appeal is practical. Yellow Card CEO Chris Maurice, whose firm operates a competing stablecoin payments rail, has argued that foreign currency shortages affect roughly 70% of African countries, an industry assertion that reflects widely documented FX constraints across the continent. Correspondent banking, the traditional system for international transfers, is broadly cited as slow and expensive, with high remittance costs and lengthy settlement times driving businesses toward alternative payment infrastructure.

The broader data supports Grey's trajectory. Sub-Saharan Africa received $205 billion in on-chain transactions between July 2024 and June 2025, a 52% increase year on year. Stablecoins accounted for 43% of all crypto transactions in the region in 2024. Among African crypto users, 79% hold stablecoins, the highest rate globally according to BVNK's 2026 Stablecoin Utility Report. In Nigeria specifically, 59% of crypto users hold USDT and 48% hold USDC, the highest combined ownership figures in the world.

Grey is not alone in this space. Flutterwave added Polygon-based USDC and USDT support in October 2025. Paga announced a Sui blockchain integration in May 2026. Yellow Card and Raenest operate competing stablecoin rails. COO Joseph Femi Aghedo pointed to the scale of untapped demand: "The addressable market for cross-border business payments out of Africa is significantly larger than what traditional banking has measured."

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Lesotho Signs Largest Investment Commitment in Its History

Lesotho's government confirmed a binding memorandum of understanding with Convalt Energy, a US-based renewable energy developer, for a project valued at $6.2 billion. The deal covers a pumped-storage hydroelectric facility with a minimum capacity of 1,200 megawatts near Kobong Dam in the mountainous Mokhotlong District, paired with an AI-focused data centre powered by that renewable capacity. Unlike run-of-river hydropower, which generates electricity only as water flows, pumped-storage systems move water between upper and lower reservoirs to store and release energy on demand, providing the continuous, dispatchable baseload power that AI data centres require around the clock.

The figure equals roughly 2.73 times Lesotho's entire 2024 GDP of $2.27 billion and represents the largest single investment commitment in the country's history. Lesotho already exports hydroelectric power to South Africa through the Lesotho Highlands Water Project, giving it a credible foundation for this type of infrastructure.

Government spokesman Boitelo Rabele described the deal as "a strong statement of intent" while acknowledging it remains conditional. Feasibility studies, environmental and social assessments, engineering design, financing arrangements, and procurement of delivery partners all still need to be completed before construction can begin. Convalt, founded in 2011 and backed by ACO Investment Group, has prior project experience in Southeast Asia and a 60 MW aggregate solar pipeline in Sierra Leone.

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AfricInvest Begins Structured Exit from Centaures

AfricInvest III is unwinding its position in SIPO Holding, the Mauritius-based parent of Groupe Centaures Routiers, a Côte d'Ivoire integrated logistics and transport operator it backed in 2018 with an initial investment of approximately 12.2 million euros (around $14.2 million). Under AfricInvest's ownership, Centaures evolved from a transport company into an integrated logistics platform and expanded its regional footprint into Burkina Faso, Mali, and Senegal. The full exit is targeted by end of 2026, making this roughly an eight-year hold.

BluePeak Private Capital provided a $16 million debt facility that contributed to reducing AfricInvest's shareholding. The exit was negotiated with the founding Delsuc family. No valuation, stake size, or exit terms were publicly disclosed. AfricInvest senior partner Hichem Ghanmi said the deal "reflects the natural maturity of our investment cycle and the strength of the partnership built."

The transaction is the fourth AfricInvest exit since mid-2025, following divestments from AFG Holding, a banking group (June 2025), Mathevon, an industrial company (June 2025), and Zambia's Entrepreneurs Financial Centre (February 2026). The clustering of four exits in under a year may signal LP distribution pressure or preparation for a new fund raise, though AfricInvest has not commented publicly on its fundraising timeline. The use of private credit to facilitate the exit rather than a secondary sale or public listing reflects the limited depth of African capital markets, a structural constraint that shapes how PE firms on the continent return capital to investors.

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Mr Price Group: Telecoms Surge, European Acquisition, and a R42.7 Billion Year

Mr Price Group, South Africa's value retail chain, reported a 2025 financial year marked by broad-based growth across revenue, digital infrastructure, and international expansion. Group revenue reached R42.7 billion, up 4.2% year on year, while headline earnings per share rose 7.7% to 1,453 cents. Operating profit crossed R6 billion for the first time, rising 4.3%.

The group's telecoms division generated R1.5 billion (about $90.5 million) in revenue, up 10.3% year on year. Central to that performance is the Salt smartphone brand, which targets lower-income consumers and positions Mr Price at the intersection of mass-market retail and digital commerce, using affordable devices as a tool for customer acquisition, loyalty, and broader market access. Online sales grew 4.9% year on year. CEO Mark Blair has pointed to the group's digital and telecoms capabilities as a continuing investment priority.

Mr Price spent R1.1 billion on technology and retail infrastructure during the year and plans to repeat that level of investment in FY2026/27, with spending targeted at e-commerce, Salt, and telecoms.

The group also announced the acquisition of NKD Group, a value fashion retailer with approximately 2,100 stores across seven European countries. The deal is the most significant international expansion in Mr Price's history and extends its value-retail model beyond South Africa for the first time at scale.