👨🏿‍🚀 Daily – Layoffs at Zap Africa |

The threat of AI taking jobs may be real, but in the case of Zap Africa, the Nigerian crypto startup that allows users to buy and sell digital assets for fiat currencies, there is a deeper issue to dissect.

Zap Africa has cut 44% of its workforce, shrinking from 18 employees to 10 in what the company describes as an “AI-driven efficiency shift.” On the surface, this looks like a classic automation story: software replaces support staff, operations get leaner, margins improve. Beneath that narrative sits a more complicated intersection of slowing retail activity, revenue pressure, and reputational strain in a bruised crypto market.

State of play: The automation push ties directly to Cognito Systems (formerly Syx Labs), an AI startup founded by Zap’s co-founder and CTO, Moore Dagogo Hart. In recent months, Dagogo Hart has been publicly championing Martha AI as a tool to help companies “streamline operations” and “improve response times.” exclusively reported that Zap began testing Martha AI internally, integrating it into customer support workflows to handle first-line enquiries. That shift made several operations and support roles redundant.

Sources familiar with the startup’s product operations say retail activity on Zap Exchange—its non-custodial crypto wallet—has slowed in recent months. In trading businesses, fewer transactions translate almost instantly into thinner revenue. A leaner team becomes less about innovation and more about survival math.

Operational strain adds context. Over the past two years, Zap faced at least two incidents: a 2024 double-counted deposit that required refunds and a 2025 fraudulent transfer that resulted in a loss. 

Automation may reduce headcount, yet it also raises questions about oversight, escalation, and human judgment when things go wrong.

The broader takeaway goes beyond one startup. African crypto exchanges operate in a uniquely exposed model where revenue is tightly coupled to speculative retail momentum.

Zoom out: Zap Africa says it remains stable and focused on building infrastructure. Stability, in this context, likely means extending runway, consolidating costs, and betting that markets will eventually rebound. Whether Martha AI becomes a competitive edge—that it uses efficiently internally, or sells as a service to other businesses—or simply a cost-cutting footnote will depend less on automation and more on whether retail traders return to click “buy” again.