What we verified, and what we could not
Every market figure we publish is recorded here with the exact sentence the publisher wrote, where it sits in their document, the date we read it, and whether we could confirm it against the primary source.
Verified means we opened the document and read the sentence. Partial means we read a credible report of it but not the document itself. Unverifiable means we went looking and could not find it — and we say so rather than quietly using it.
What we could not confirm
These are the figures we are least sure about. They are first on this page deliberately — a register that only showed its wins would not be worth reading.
[no verbatim sentence found on the cited page]
Why it is not verified: Widely attributed to Pew Research Center, but the sentence does not appear on the page it is attributed to. We could not locate it in any Pew document, so we do not assert it.
“Banks now require GhanaPostGPS addresses before opening accounts or accessing loans”
Why it is not verified: No primary Bank of Ghana directive located. The point it supports — that mandating issuance is not mandating use — holds regardless, but the mandate itself needs a primary source.
“Nigeria's non-interest capital market is 1.6 trillion naira, of which 1.19 trillion is federal government paper, with no non-financial corporate issuer to date”
Why it is not verified: Read through secondary reporting. Not yet confirmed against an SEC Nigeria or DMO filing, so it is published as partial rather than verified.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] Visa invested USD 200 million for a 20% stake, valuing Interswitch at about USD 1 billion.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. This is the oldest figure on the list, roughly seven years old. A London listing has been explored repeatedly and never launched, so no public market price exists either.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] Wave raised a USD 200 million Series A at a USD 1.7 billion valuation, becoming Francophone Africa's first unicorn.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. IMPORTANT: Wave raised about USD 137 million in June 2025 led by Rand Merchant Bank with BII, Finnfund and Norfund, but that was DEBT. Debt sets no valuation, so the company is still priced on the 2021 equity round despite a large and recent raise.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] Andela raised a USD 200 million Series E led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 at a USD 1.5 billion valuation.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. No equity round has been reported since.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] FTX marked its position in Chipper Cash down from a USD 2 billion valuation to USD 1.25 billion, a cut of about 37.5%.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. This is the ONLY company on the list with public evidence of a change in valuation, and it exists only because an investor collapsed and its books became public. A further figure of about USD 1.3 billion on a convertible note in August 2026 appears on a single low-credibility site and is NOT recorded here.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] Tyme raised a USD 250 million Series D led by Nubank at a USD 1.5 billion valuation.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. Among the more recent figures on the list. The group has said it will rebrand to GoTyme.
[REPORTED, NOT VERBATIM] Moniepoint passed a USD 1 billion valuation at its October 2024 Series C, and closed a USD 90 million extension in October 2025 led by Development Partners International and LeapFrog, with Visa participating.
Why it is not verified: Private company valuation reported in the trade press at the time of a funding round. No filing, no company disclosure read at source. WARNING ON AGGREGATORS: several databases display this same round with a recent 'as of' date stamped on it, which makes a stale figure look current. The date below is the date of the ROUND, not the date anyone last priced the company. The most recently refreshed figure on the list. The round was reported as exceeding USD 1 billion rather than at a stated number.
“Galaxy Backbone Abuja and Kano, MainOne Lekki, MTN Dabengwa, and Rack Centre Lagos”
Why it is not verified: The register is paginated and was not retrieved in full. Five is a confirmed floor, not a national count. Facilities that trade press describes as Tier III but that could not be matched are a research gap, not a finding about those operators.
Verified claims
Grouped by the document they came from. Each one was read in the publisher's own document, not in a summary of it.
“the $2 billion mark in start-up funding in Africa (exc. exits) has now been crossed”
Note: Nine months, against Briter's six. The periods are different; the figures are not comparable.
“50% of all H1 2026 funding value was raised by entities mainly incorporated outside of Africa.”
Note: The single largest driver of disagreement between the four trackers, stated by one of them about its own data.
“$3.3bn across 205 disclosed deals, +73% YoY”
Note: Includes debt and counts entities incorporated outside Africa. Not comparable with equity-only, African-incorporated figures.
“All affected Financial Institutions are required to take necessary measures to achieve full compliance not later than December 31, 2026.”
Note: The circular PDF is served behind a human-verification check on cbn.gov.ng and was retrieved manually, then read in full. This is the earlier of the circular's two deadlines and is under-reported next to the 1 January 2027 localisation date. It applies to the market structure limits in clause 3, not to data localisation.
“All Financial Institutions and participants facilitating payments within Nigeria shall ensure that payments transaction data generated within Nigeria are stored and managed in Nigeria in accordance with data protection laws and regulations applicable in Nigeria. Accordingly, all affected Financial Institutions shall fully comply with this requirement effective January 1, 2027.”
Note: The circular PDF is served behind a human-verification check on cbn.gov.ng and was retrieved manually, then read in full. The quote is verbatim from clause 2. Scope is set by the circular's own address block: deposit money banks, microfinance banks, mobile money operators, switching and processing companies, PTSPs, PSSPs, super agents and other licensed operators.
“Any licensed financial institution engaged in consumer issuing activities, whether individually or part of a group of related entities, that holds more than twenty-five percent (25%) market share in consumer issuing within any rolling twelve-month period shall not hold more than fifteen percent (15%) market share in merchant acquiring activities during the same period.”
Note: The circular PDF is served behind a human-verification check on cbn.gov.ng and was retrieved manually, then read in full. Symmetrical: clause 3(ii) applies the same 25%/15% test in the opposite direction. It is a cross-activity cap, not a cap on either activity alone - an institution may exceed 25% in one provided it stays under 15% in the other.
“All Deposit Money Banks, Payment Service Providers and Other Financial Institutions with digital payments footprints shall disclose the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership (UBO) of significant shareholders in accordance with applicable extant laws and regulations including Anti-Money Laundering, Combating the Financing of Terrorism and Counter Proliferation Financing (AML/CFT/CPF) regulations.”
Note: The circular PDF is served behind a human-verification check on cbn.gov.ng and was retrieved manually, then read in full. The circular sets no compliance date for this requirement, unlike clauses 2 and 3. 'Significant shareholders' is not defined here; it refers out to extant laws and regulations.
“The Series VII Sovereign Sukuk through which the Debt Management Office (DMO) offered N300 billion, on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), recorded an unprecedented subscription level of over N2.205 trillion. This represents an excess of 735% subscription.”
Note: DMO's phrase "an excess of 735% subscription" is ambiguous. N2.205trn against a N300bn offer is 7.35 times the offer, so the amount in excess of the offer is 635%, not 735%. Quote the two amounts rather than the percentage.
“An analysis of the subscriptions showed that the subscribers cut across various segments of the public: retail, non-interest banks and financial institutions, banks, pension fund administrators, asset/fund managers and others.”
Note: Stated by the issuer about its own offer. Shows demand is not confined to non-interest institutions, but the release gives no split between segments.
“recorded an unprecedented subscription level of over N2.205 trillion”
Note: Subscription received, not amount allotted. The release does not state the final allotment.
“the ethical instrument introduced by the DMO in 2017 as an innovative strategy to expand the nation's investor-base”
Note: None material.
“For investment projects assigned an environmental and social risk category of A, the Summary of Investment Information (SII) is disclosed 60 days prior to consideration by IFC's Board of Directors. For all other investment projects, disclosure occurs 30 days prior to Board consideration.”
Note: This is what makes the portal forward-looking: the pipeline is visible before approval.
“Expansion has moderated in more mature markets in the GCC and EAP, while momentum has increased significantly in the ECA, SSA, and SA”
Note: Used instead of a regional CAGR figure. The CAGR chart could not be read unambiguously — five region labels against seven printed percentages — so no number is asserted.
“>USD 1tn milestone 21.8%”
“This growth reflects favorable financing conditions, regulatory and market developments, and sustained increase in demand for Islamic financial products, particularly in Africa and central Asia.”
Note: The standards body names Africa as a driver of global growth. Stronger than any third-party assertion that the market is underserved.
“launch of the first dedicated operator in Ethiopia; preparation of comprehensive regulations in Ghana; and drafting of legislative frameworks in Uganda. In banking, new institutions were established in Nigeria and Uganda.”
“Islamic Banking Assets 69.2% Sukuk Outstanding 25.1% Islamic Funds Assets 4.1% Islamic Insurance Assets 1.6%”
“SSA 0.7%”
Note: Set against 369 million Muslims in the same region (Pew). This pairing is the gap, and both halves come from the publishers themselves.
“SSA 0.1%”
Note: GCC 49.8% and EAP 40.7% on the same chart. Africa is not a small part of this market; it is a rounding error in it.
“The Islamic Financial Services Industry (IFSI) continued to expand in 2025, reaching approximately USD 4.4 trillion in total assets, supported by favourable financing conditions and ongoing market development across all three sectors.”
“Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) 14.36 1.19 15.20 0.04 30.79”
Note: Banking 14.36, sukuk 1.19, funds 15.20, insurance 0.04. Global total on the same row: 4,403.39.
“USD 4.40tn Total IFSI Assets Q3 2025 +13.4%”
Note: The 4,403.39bn figure in Figure 1.1 is stated as at Q3 2025. It is not a full-year 2025 total and should not be read as one.
“$1.21bn across 151 deals, down from $1.45bn across 159”
Note: Methodology not published.
“2012:75 2013:87 2014:102 2015:32 2016:123 2017:172 2018:165 2019:163 2020:157 2021:144 2022:155 2023:161 2024:159”
Note: This describes the PUBLIC INDEX, not NBS's internal output. We established what the elibrary lists, not whether work was done or documents exist elsewhere. Checked twice on 3 Oct 2026, by direct fetch and in a browser against the live DOM, with the same result. The site exposes one document repository (/elibrary) plus a separate survey microdata catalogue, which was also checked. Counts are of listed records, each carrying its own publication date.
“Foreign Trade in Goods Statistics Q3 2024 | Fri Dec 6 2024”
Note: This describes the PUBLIC INDEX, not NBS's internal output. We established what the elibrary lists, not whether work was done or documents exist elsewhere. Checked twice on 3 Oct 2026, by direct fetch and in a browser against the live DOM, with the same result. The site exposes one document repository (/elibrary) plus a separate survey microdata catalogue, which was also checked.
“Notably, we successfully completed the rebasing of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), two critical methodological updates that ensure our national statistics better reflect current economic realities.”
Note: Confirms the rebasing happened and who says so. It states no base year, no revised GDP level and no magnitude. The widely quoted shift from a 2010 to a 2019 base year, and the uplift of about a third, are NOT established by this statement and are not asserted here.
“Muslims increased to 369 million (up 34%).”
Note: Sub-Saharan Africa only. Pew reports MENA separately, so this figure is not an Africa-wide total and the two cannot simply be added and presented as sourced.
“The share of the population that is Muslim changed the most, growing by roughly 1 percentage point to 33%.”
“$1.44bn, +1.4% YoY, 146 disclosed transactions”
Note: Minimum round size not stated on the pages reviewed.
“Sub-Saharan Africa remains the most expensive region to send money to, recorded at 8.46 percent total average cost.”
Note: Costs are the total average cost of sending USD 200, which is RPW's standard basis ("Annex I - Tables ($200)"). Report read in full, 32 pages. It is a regional average across 47 corridors, not a single price, and it is the cost of sending TO the region.
“Average total cost 8.12 174 6.36 6.41”
Note: Costs are the total average cost of sending USD 200, which is RPW's standard basis ("Annex I - Tables ($200)"). Report read in full, 32 pages. Read from a table row rather than a sentence, so the column mapping follows the table header.
“Of the 13 corridors with costs above 20 percent in Q3 2025, nine of them originate from Sub-Saharan Africa.”
Note: Costs are the total average cost of sending USD 200, which is RPW's standard basis ("Annex I - Tables ($200)"). Report read in full, 32 pages. These nine corridors ORIGINATE from sub-Saharan Africa, which is a different direction of travel from the 8.46% figure, which is the cost of sending TO the region. Do not merge the two.
“The UN SDGs and the G20 have indicated a target of 3 percent for the Global Average to be reached by 2030. At the same time, the UN SDGs and the G20 have also committed to ensuring that in all corridors, remittances can be transferred for 5 percent or less.”
Note: Two separate commitments: 3 percent for the GLOBAL AVERAGE by 2030, and 5 percent or less in EVERY corridor. They are different tests and are often conflated.
How this register works
A claim is only recorded with the publisher's verbatim sentence. A paraphrase with a link attached is a summary, not a source, and it is the thing that lets a wrong number travel.
Where two publishers measure the same thing differently, we record both and state what makes them different — rather than picking the one that reads better.
Every figure carries the date we read it. Anything not re-checked within 90 days is flagged internally for review, because a correct figure left alone becomes a wrong one.
If you believe something here is wrong, say so and bring the document. We will correct it and mark what changed.