Direct-to-consumer exports: Madagascar’s Malagasy Vanilla says Temu’s Local Seller Program (with lower Belgium shipping costs via Bnode) helped it sell to consumers across 14 European markets, cutting logistics costs nearly in half and quadrupling sales in four months. SME finance pressure: Nigeria’s finance minister says a new framework will lower the cost of capital without fresh subsidies, aiming to turn macro stability into more jobs and investment as SMEs wait for relief from high borrowing costs. Regulatory whiplash: A Nigeria-focused analysis argues policy surprise and uneven enforcement can hit SMEs harder than headline tax rates by destabilising planning, inventory and market entry. Ghana agribusiness bottleneck: Ghana Nuts faces raw-material risk as GIPA urges it to invest in shea tree cultivation to secure sustainable supply for export processing. SME enablement win: Nedbank’s SimplyBiz platform was named Overall Winner for “Best SME Beyond Banking Service Initiative,” highlighting non-financial support like coaching, tools and market access. Payments leadership move: Airtel Money Kenya’s Anne Kinuthia-Otieno joins Visa as VP and Head of East Africa, tasked with expanding digital payments and inclusion across seven markets. Credit scoring for farmers: UfarmX (Alexander Zanders) says it has individually credit-scored 17,000 farmers and unlocked $6.8m in agri commerce, building data-driven credit infrastructure to expand lending. Entrepreneurship ecosystem gap (SA): South Africa’s GEM report flags a weak support ecosystem, scoring 3.9/10 on the entrepreneurship context index, with implementation gaps hurting SME growth. Tourism tailwind (SA): South Africa logged 5.58m international arrivals in H1 2026 (+12.3%), boosting demand for local services that many small businesses rely on.