WhatsApp is testing paid subscriptions that unlock features like more pinned chats, custom app icons, themed interfaces, and exclusive ringtones and stickers. Fun, but we’ll see how that plays out. South Africa’s communication regulator, the Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA), is also side-eyeing the platform and other over-the-top (OTT) services like Netflix.

The focus is to open a market inquiry into whether these services are eating into the space that traditional broadcasters once dominated, and what that means for competition and regulation. Findings are expected after the 2026/2027 financial year. Fingers crossed for whatever ICASA finds.

In other news, Nigeria’s elections have a retention problem. A new Zikoko Citizen report predicts what participation in the 2027 election might look like, drawing on trends from previous cycles, and explores what could bring about a massive turnaround. Read the full report here. — Yemi CBN, NCC partner to monitor phone numbers Kenya freezes accounts of Binance users South Africa plans to investigate over-the-top platforms Plug-in hybrid EVs reach record sales in South Africa World Wide Web 3 Opportunities Telecoms Nigeria’s Central Bank and telecoms regulator team up to give banks real-time access to telecom data Aminu Maida, the EVC of Nigerian Communications Commission (Middle) and Cardoso Olayemi, the Governor the Central Bank (Right) of Nigeria during the signing of the MoU.

Image source: NCC Financial fraud in Nigeria has gone beyond stealing passwords or tricking people into sending over sensitive financial information. SIM cards are now identity anchors used in financial services; recycled or swapped phone numbers have become a sort of back door for fraudsters to intercept one-time passwords (OTPs) and move money before anyone notices. The impact is ₦52.26 billion ($37.86 million) in losses in 2024.

Now, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), the country’s telecoms regulator, have signed a new agreement that would allow banks to check mobile number activity before a transaction goes through. How would it work? At the centre of this partnership is something called the Telecom Identity Risk Management System (TIRMS), a centralised platform designed to track and verify the risk status of mobile numbers.

With this new setup, banks can see what’s going on behind a phone number in real-time: whether it has been recently altered, reassigned, flagged for suspicious activity, or is inactive. It’s like sharing intelligence. What does peeking into this data do?

With real-time verification, banks can flag risky transactions before they happen. It will increase scrutiny on phone numbers that show signs of compromise in the system. This could mean that banks can pause authentication steps or transactions tied to those phone numbers before money is transferred.

Will this reduce fraud? Though this additional data will close a huge gap for banks, it is not a standalone fix. It will likely make it harder for attackers to exploit one of the most common entry points, and frankly, easy-to-obtain methods of identity farming, which are mobile numbers.

However, the extent of regulatory oversight is still unknown. It is unclear whether banks, for example, will have autonomy to report compromised phone numbers to law enforcement agencies, or how they will handle such cases. This matters because fraud cases succeed when systems are disconnected.

This collaboration could reduce fraud vulnerabilities. 20+ Markets. One API. Fincra connects your business to Africa’s payment rails without building market by market.

For collection, payout, FX, and settlement through a single integration. See what this means for your business. Cryptocurrency Kenya freezes accounts of Binance users Image Source: Zikoko Memes POV: you’re a Binance user in Kenya, and you wake up to check if your trades are up or down, or maybe even cash out.

But suddenly, you can’t access your account or move anything. It’s not a glitch: Kenya’s Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), an investigative agency, has moved to freeze an undisclosed number of Binance accounts, in a crackdown on crypto-linked fraud, money laundering, and suspected terrorism financing. Binance has told affected users that the restrictions came at the request of authorities.

Crypto must conform: Kenya is under pressure to tighten its financial controls and exit the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) grey list, following Nigeria and South Africa’s exits in October 2025. This list flags countries with gaps in anti-money laundering controls, including crypto. The Virtual Asset Service Providers (VASP) Act, passed in 2025, will regulate virtual asset businesses in the country by bringing exchanges and intermediaries under form