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💵LIRS Extends Tax Filing Deadline to April 21

💵LIRS Extends Tax Filing Deadline to April 21

Plus: 🪙VALR, Onafriq Enable Crypto via Mobile Money

Innovation Village
April 14, 2026

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Good Morning Valued Subscribers👋

Deadlines are shifting, capital is flowing, and innovation is accelerating across Africa’s financial and technology landscape. In Nigeria, the Lagos Internal Revenue Service has extended the tax filing deadline to April 21, offering relief to taxpayers while reinforcing compliance efforts. At the same time, digital finance continues to evolve, with VALR and Onafriq enabling crypto transactions via mobile money, and Standard Bank backing Optasia with $330 million in financing.

Meanwhile, the push for more efficient and secure technology is gaining ground. Refiant has raised $5 million to reduce AI energy consumption, as organisations place greater emphasis on sustainability and cost efficiency. Cybersecurity is also taking center stage with proactive threat hunting approaches becoming increasingly critical, while OpenAI rolls out a $100 Pro plan for ChatGPT, reflecting rising demand for advanced AI tools. Together, these developments point to a rapidly evolving ecosystem where regulation, investment, and innovation are moving in lockstep.

Let’s dive in👇

Today’s Menu ☕️

💵LIRS Extends Tax Filing Deadline to April 21
🪙VALR, Onafriq Enable Crypto via Mobile Money
💵Standard Bank Backs Optasia with $330M Financing
🤖Refiant Raises $5M to Cut AI Energy Use
🔐Proactive Threat Hunting for Modern Cybersecurity
🤖ChatGPT Introduces $100 Pro Plan for Power Users

💵 TAX

LIRS Extends Tax Filing Deadline to April 21

The Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has extended the deadline for filing annual income tax returns to April 21, 2026, marking the second extension due to heavy traffic on its eTax platform. The surge in usage reflects increased taxpayer compliance but also exposed system limitations.

The agency stated that the extension is to allow accurate submissions without technical disruptions and confirmed that this is the final deadline. All income earners in Lagos—including self-employed individuals, business owners, and salaried workers—are required to file electronically via the eTax portal.

Failure to meet the new deadline may result in penalties, interest charges, and enforcement actions. The situation highlights both improving compliance levels and the need for stronger digital infrastructure to support Nigeria’s evolving tax system........….continue reading

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🪙 CRYPTOCURRENCY

VALR, Onafriq Enable Crypto via Mobile Money

Crypto exchange VALR has partnered with payments gateway Onafriq to allow users across 43 African countries to buy cryptocurrencies directly using mobile money. The integration supports local currencies and services like M-Pesa and MTN MoMo, removing the need for traditional bank accounts.

By leveraging Onafriq’s vast mobile money network, transactions are processed using stablecoins, bypassing conventional banking systems. This approach aligns with existing financial habits in Africa, where mobile money is widely used but banking access remains limited.

The partnership addresses a major barrier to crypto adoption—account funding—while advancing financial inclusion and positioning both companies at the intersection of mobile payments and digital assets in Africa’s evolving financial ecosystem.......….continue reading

💵 FUNDING

Standard Bank Backs Optasia with $330M Financing

Standard Bank has supported fintech company Optasia with a $330 million syndicated financing package, including $180 million in term loans and $150 million in guarantees. The deal strengthens Optasia’s funding capacity as it scales across Africa and beyond.

Acting as a lead arranger, Standard Bank structured the financing to provide long-term flexibility, helping Optasia expand operations, invest in innovation, and maintain financial resilience. The move reflects growing demand for sophisticated capital solutions as fintechs mature and require more complex funding.

The partnership highlights increasing alignment between African fintechs and institutional investors, reinforcing the sector’s growth trajectory and its role in advancing a more inclusive and digitally driven financial ecosystem..........….continue reading

🤖ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Refiant Raises $5M to Cut AI Energy Use

South African–founded AI startup Refiant has raised $5 million in seed funding, led by VoLo Earth Ventures, to tackle the growing energy demands of artificial intelligence. Instead of relying on expanding data center infrastructure, the company focuses on compressing AI models to run efficiently with far less computational power.

Refiant’s technology uses nature-inspired algorithms to significantly reduce hardware requirements and energy consumption while maintaining up to 95–99% performance. It has demonstrated this by running a 120-billion-parameter model on a standard laptop, cutting energy usage by over 80%.

The funding will support product development and global expansion, with a focus on enabling cost-efficient, sustainable AI—particularly in regions with limited infrastructure like Africa......….continue reading

🔐CYBERSECURITY

Proactive Threat Hunting for Modern Cybersecurity

As cyber threats grow more advanced, traditional reactive security tools are no longer sufficient. Proactive threat hunting shifts the focus from responding to attacks to actively detecting hidden threats before they cause damage.

This approach involves continuous monitoring, threat intelligence, and expert analysis to identify anomalies and unknown risks that automated systems may miss. Key benefits include faster incident response, detection of zero-day threats, reduced attacker dwell time, and a stronger overall security posture.

The IT Horizons model combines 24/7 monitoring, tailored threat hypotheses, deep investigations, and rapid response to enhance existing security systems. Overall, proactive threat hunting enables organizations to stay ahead of evolving cyber threats and minimize potential impact..........….continue reading