E-Business
Smile Identity Raises $7m to Build KYC and Identity Verification Tools for Africa

Smile Identity, the company that enables ID verification and KYC compliance through Artificial Intelligence designed for African faces and identities, announced today that the company had secured $7 million in Series A funding.

Smile Identity Logo
Smile Identity is providing the Identity Verification, Digital KYC, User Onboarding, Document Verification, Liveness Checks, Face Verification, Anti-fraud, and Identity Data Deduplication tools powering the rapid growth and expansion of businesses and startups across Africa.
The investment was co-led by Costanoa Ventures and the pan-African venture firm, CRE Venture Capital, along with participation from LocalGlobe, Intercept Ventures, Future Africa Ventures, and Angel Investors from across Africa and around the world. Existing investors, including Khosla Impact, ValueStream Ventures, Beta Ventures, 500 Startups, and Story Ventures also participated.
The round, which marks the largest investment into an identity verification company focused on Africa, brings Smile Identity’s total funding to over $11M.
The company plans to use the new funding to improve its services, expand across more markets, add support for more ID types and hire more engineers and support staff across Africa.
In conjunction with this round, John Cowgill of Costanoa, will be joining Smile Identity’s board.
Smile Identity launched in 2017 with a mission to make it easy for Africans anywhere to quickly and easily prove their identity online, while providing startups and established enterprises with the tools and software they need to automate customer onboarding, verify identities, and prevent fraud.
Africans spend an inordinate amount of time trying to prove or verify their identities in order to gain access to financial accounts, loans, SIM cards, address proofs, and social services; and an estimated 500 million Africans have no formal identification at all.
“We believe anyone should be able to prove their identity easily, anywhere in the world and that access to a modern digital lifestyle should not depend on the origin of your ID Card or IP address,” said Mark Straub, Smile Identity’s Co-founder and CEO.
To standardize identity verification across the continent and provide a single solution for a new generation of African companies, Smile Identity works with local ID authorities and has built a platform that combines ID validation with proprietary face verification and liveness checks to support non-surveillance, consent-based access and financial inclusion.
The company performs over 1 million identity checks every month across Africa and its software is used in banking, fintech, ride sharing, worker verification, public social welfare programs, and telecommunications.
Its customers include payments companies like Paystack, Paga and Chippercash; neo-banks like Kudabank and Umba; traditional banks like Stanbic IBTC; cryptocurrency exchanges like Binance, Luno, and Paxful; and even supply-chain businesses like Twiga.
“Smile Identity has powered our hyper growth across Africa, accelerating our ability to acquire real users and build a great KYC user experience for our customers. With Smile Identity, we were able to automate our compliance process and reduce KYC completion time by 99%, from 2 days to 2 minutes. Within 6 weeks of turning on Smile Identity’s automated KYC solution, we catapulted to #1 in the South African app store.” Said Chippercash Co-founder and President Maijid Moujaled.
With subsidiaries, branch offices and engineers in Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Rwanda, Uganda and counting, Smile Identity’s growing team is made up of people from 12 countries, including 8 African nations.
E-Business
CAC, NIBSS Unveil Platform for Data Access to Private Firms

Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) in partnership with the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) has unveiled a new Application Programming Interface (API) integration system to allow private firms access company data from the Commission’s database.
Hussaini Ishaq Magaji (SAN), registrar general of CAC, who spoke in Abuja at the unveiling said the system would give selected private organizations access to CAC services through technology-based companies, called “super agents.”
“This is a practical step to show that the Commission is committed to meeting the expectations of our customers,” he said.
Magaji explained that the integration allows the agents to retrieve data from the CAC database for use in specific client requests, outside the standard services provided by the Commission.
“Before now, only a few government agencies had this integration, especially those involved in investigations, anti-money laundering, and terrorism financing. Now, private companies that meet the criteria can also access it,” he said.
He said the system complies with the Nigerian Data Protection Act 2023, and information such as residential addresses, phone numbers, and dates of birth may be restricted.
“This is a call to law firms and companies with the right technology. We’ve started with NIPS because of their credibility. Embassies and banks can now authenticate company records directly through them.”
“There are prescribed fees. We already collect them on our portal, and now customers can also pay through these agents,” he explained.
He named NIPS, MoneyPoint, and OPE as some of the companies involved.
“OPE and MoneyPoint handle only registrations. But NIPS has moved further into validation and verification,” he said.
Ngover Ihyembe-Nwankwo, executive director at NIBSS, who represented Premier Oiwoh, managing director, said the service allows secure and efficient data verification.
“This is the result of years of effort to connect our systems with CAC. It will help users verify data within the limits of data protection laws,” she said.
She said the move is a way to lower costs and promote interoperability across the financial sector.
E-Business
FG Launches Online Citizenship, Business Management Platform

Ministry of Interior has announced the launch of a new Online Citizenship and Business Management Platform in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu.
A statement signed by Dr Magdalene Ajani, permanent secretary, Ministry of Interior’s said the initiative forms a key part of its ongoing reforms aimed at promoting transparency, enhancing operational efficiency, and significantly improving service delivery to the public.
The new digital platform is designed to streamline the application and processing of citizenship and business-related services, ensuring faster turnaround times and improved user experience.
The platform allows users to apply for and manage business permits, ensuring that both local and foreign businesses operate legally in Nigeria.
It includes an Expatriate Quota System to manage work permits for foreign employees, helping companies hire skilled workers while complying with Nigeria’s immigration laws.
The Citizenship Administration and Management System provides a streamlined online process for applying, tracking, and managing Nigerian citizenship applications and related services.
Members of the public, corporate entities, and other stakeholders are expected to access the platform through the ministry’s website: https://interior.gov.ng , Direct Portal Access: https://candb.interior.gov.ng , or contact candb-support@interior.gov.ng for support and inquiries.
“The Ministry of Interior remains committed to establishing a more efficient, transparent, and secure framework for citizenship administration, while continuously enhancing service delivery through digital transformation,” the statement read in part.
E-Business
NITDA, CISCO Empower Youth with Digital Skills

Fifty selected young unemployed Nigerians have completed a four-week intensive digital skills bootcamp under the Digital Literacy for All (DL4ALL) initiative, gaining practical training in Data Science, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and IT Essentials.
The programme, a collaborative effort between the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Cisco, was hosted at NITDA’s South West Zonal Office in Victoria Island, Lagos.
Speaking on behalf of the Director General of NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa , the Head of the South West Zonal Office, Mrs. Chioma Okee-Agugwo, described the initiative as a vital component of Nigeria’s digital future. “This is not just a closing ceremony. It is the launchpad for new journeys—anchored in digital knowledge and powered by innovation,” she remarked.
According to the Director General, the initiative is rooted in NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP 2.0) and reflects key focus areas including Digital Literacy, Emerging Technologies, and Youth Empowerment. It also aligns with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which seeks to accelerate economic diversification through digitisation, innovation, and skills development.
Inuwa noted that the DL4ALL initiative forms part of Nigeria’s broader commitment to digital inclusion—ensuring that no one is left behind in the evolving digital economy. It also supports the ambitious goal of achieving 70% digital literacy by 2027, championed by the Honourable Minister of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, Dr. Bosun Tijani. This national vision aims to equip millions of Nigerians with the skills required to thrive in a tech-driven world.
He further emphasized the importance of empowering youth with globally relevant skills. “They are no longer just consumers of technology. They are creators, innovators, and future employers,” he said.
The NITDA boss explained that throughout the bootcamp, participants engaged in hands-on learning experiences designed to build both technical proficiency and digital leadership capabilities.
“This is only the beginning,” he stated. “Through our zonal strategy, we are bringing innovation closer to local communities. This is how we democratise access and unlock Nigeria’s full digital potential.”
Inuwa expressed appreciation to Cisco for delivering high-impact training and called on stakeholders to continue investing in partnerships, people, and platforms that drive digital inclusion.
He asserted that the newly certified participants are now equipped to contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s digital economy—armed with the skills to build solutions, secure infrastructure, and launch tech ventures that solve real-world problems.
At the end of the bootcamp, participants demonstrated their knowledge through impressive presentations that showcased the integration of skills acquired across Data Science, AI, and IT Essentials. Many spoke passionately about how the programme had expanded their technical competence and sparked a drive to create job opportunities—not only for themselves but also for others—as entrepreneurs and digital solution providers in their communities.
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