From Clicks to Clarity: TechCabal’s 2024 Journey

If you think the media industry’s failures with the “clicks and pageviews over everything” model have cured it of its obsession with numbers, think again. Numbers matter. Take The New York Times, with 11 million subscribers, or The Washington Post, which had 2.5 million subscribers before a rash of cancellations followed Jeff Bezos’ controversial refusal to endorse a presidential candidate.

These numbers reflect business performance, but they also signal impact. Imagine mattering to 11 million people.

In 2023, TechCabal set an ambitious goal of reaching 1 million unique monthly users, a huge jump from the 370,000 users we ended 2022 with. By October, we surpassed 1 million, and we’ve continued to grow well beyond that target.

In 2024, our core focus was a deeper commitment to quality journalism—aiming to become the publication of record for every company leveraging technology. This was more challenging than tripling our user base.

Depth means taking the time to fully understand a story, building expertise, and revisiting sources until we’re sure of the story’s full implications. Thorough, nuanced coverage is what sets us apart.

In Nigeria’s tech ecosystem, there are only a few real secrets. Many of the stories that never get published exist in private group chats. Because people don’t always trust the media to treat these stories fairly, they keep these impactful stories to themselves. We’ve worked hard to change that and earn trust, allowing our nearly 2 million readers to engage with the same conversations and understand the issues as industry insiders.

One area where this trust-building has been critical is banking. Nigeria’s top banks are worth trillions of naira and have become experts at controlling the media narrative. Yet there’s a gap in reporting—few stories help everyday customers understand the banks’ thinking.

We’ve sought to fill that gap. For example, we reported on GTBank’s switch to a new core banking system—a move fraught with complications that even station attendants in Lagos discussed while customers tried to pay for fuel. 

We also covered Sterling Bank’s ambitious decision to build a custom core banking application. And while the jury’s still out on Sterling’s bold move, building your core banking product and offering it to others as a service is wise. It’s what Amazon did with AWS, turning a cost center into a product and profit center. 

If you’re wondering how much some of those changes cost, we reported it here.

There’s still much to be done, but we’ve challenged traditional banking coverage and are excited to see other publications following suit.

Fraud in the financial services sector remains a persistent problem. While many assumed fraud was limited to fintechs, our 2024 reporting showed it’s an industry-wide issue. Bad actors are more sophisticated than ever, collaborating on large-scale cyberattacks. In November, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested over 400 individuals allegedly involved in such schemes.

While the bad guys unite, there’s a troubling lack of unity between fintechs and banks. Regulators have struggled to enforce consistent rules, making it easier for fraud to flourish. While the Central Bank’s emphasis on compliance is a step in the right direction, bad actors will continue to thrive without greater cooperation across the sector.

Despite these challenges, there have been bright spots in the industry. This year, Africa’s newest unicorn, Moniepoint, raised $110 million in a Series C funding round. We reported on Moniepoint’s impressive growth before the hype, with insights into its profitable partnership with card scheme Verve and its commercial banking ambitions.

Telecommunications, like banking, is an underreported sector in Nigeria. In 2024, we focused on bringing much-needed clarity to the industry. Frank Eleanya joined us early in the year with a mandate to peel back the layers of Nigeria’s telecoms sector. We reported on a massive hack at Globacom, the company’s leadership change, and the struggles of 9Mobile, which is under new ownership and hoping to address its many challenges.

Meanwhile, Mafab, which holds Nigeria’s first 5G license, has done little with the technology since acquiring it but plans to launch 5G services in early 2025. There’s still an untapped market, with only a small portion of the country using 5G networks.

For the observant—we saw some of your tweets—a theme for 2024 was expanding our coverage because technology isn’t just about startups. There’s technology in everything. 

While TechCabal focuses heavily on tech startups—we have two reporters focused on finding new and interesting startups, ideas, and the innovation that powers them—technology is integral to every aspect of modern life. 

That’s why we’ve expanded into banking and telecommunications, sectors where technology offerings impact people’s everyday experiences. TechCabal is a publication for everyone, and these industries—shaping how we communicate, transact, and interact—are vital to understanding the technology that drives our world.

Pan-African ambitions

Our coverage in Kenya coverage also grew in 2024 with reports on the acquisition of Hisa by Rise, AltSchool’s expansion to Kenya, and Access Bank’s acquisitions. This helped us expand our readership in Kenya and South Africa, bringing us closer to becoming a genuinely pan-African publication.

The biggest story in Kenya in 2024 was the protest against the Finance Bill, which proposed taxes on remittances and other everyday goods. While this might seem like a political story, it’s also deeply connected to the tech landscape, as many of these taxes directly affect digital payment platforms and remittance services that rely on technology to function. 

The bill posed a leadership test for President William Ruto, whose popularity has waned significantly, and our coverage of this issue was crucial in understanding its implications on the tech ecosystem. To cover this story effectively, we had boots on the ground—remote reporting simply couldn’t capture the full context of how these proposed taxes would impact both the people and the digital infrastructure driving Kenya’s economy.

A Look Ahead

This letter is not a comprehensive overview of our 2024 coverage but a glimpse into how we approach our journalism. 

Our goal is to help you make sense of the complex issues shaping Africa’s tech and business landscape. 2024 showed us that our work matters—that we are raising the bar for media coverage in the region. But this is just the beginning.

Our journalism will remain rooted in research, meaning-making, and fair, rigorous reporting. We’re committed to connecting the dots, delivering insights, and holding industry leaders accountable. 

While we’re excited about our expanded coverage into new sectors, we remain steadfast in our commitment to being the best publication for startup news. We know that this space requires deeper digging, and in 2024, we made hiring and story assignments with that in mind. Our mission is to tell stories that matter, to make sense of the world for our readers, and to continue providing the most insightful, in-depth coverage of the startups shaping Africa’s future.

My top eight picks from TechCabal’s 2024 reporting:

How Huawei became Nigeria’s biggest telecoms vendor and enterprise business

Our coverage on Huawei, one of Nigeria’s most underreported companies, and its rise to becoming a market leader.