Hi Fintech friends 👋,
It has been a busy week with more Fintech announcements, here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Two Nigerian fintech soonicorns expanded globally through acquisitions.
Four African fintechs announced funding deals.
Africa’s latest Unicorn piloted its “square for Africa” product.
CEO of Africa’s HR and Payroll Fintech resigned,leaving investors in the dark amid EFCC, LIRS probe.
Africa’s biggest mobile money provider lost 4.7% market share in Kenya.
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💸Fundraise and Exits
Remittance Fintech Lemfi completed acquisition of Irish currency exchange Bureau Buttercrane.
Africa’s Top Remittance recipients(2024)
Cedar Money secured $9.9 million to power cross-border payments with stablecoins.
Share of monthly cryptocurrency value sent by Sub-Saharan Africa by asset type
Rwandan-based Pulasecured a $10 Million grant from Bayer Foundation to provide insurance coverage to 10 million smallholder farmers by 2030.
There are six primary insurance regions in Africa, with South Africa constituting around 70 percent of the insurance premiums.
💰 Venture Funds
P1 Ventures and Two Other Funds received $7.5 Million Backing from Egypt’s Fund of Funds.
Egypt’s promising fintech landscape
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Moniepointpiloted its “Square for Africa” product; an all-in-one point-of-sale (POS) terminal that combines payment processing, inventory management, and transaction.
Moniepoint by figures
CreditChek partners with CredPal to expand credit access across Africa.
Estimated trade finance gaps in the ECOWAS based on rejections of applications by banks.
Egypt’s Paymobsecured UAE Central Bank retail payment services licence.
👔 Leadership Lineup
Bento CEO resigned, leaving investors in the dark amid EFCC, LIRS probe.
Leaked Bento’s CEO resignation email
📰 News of the Week
Uber-backed Moove acquired Brazil’s Kovi to continue global expansion.
Moove’s funding rounds
The acquisition is an all-stock transaction that makes Kovi’s investors shareholders in Moove which has raised about $500 million in debt and equity from investors like Uber at a $750 Million valuation. Kovi has raised over $145 million from different investors.
This deal increases Moove’s annual revenue to $275 million. Moove’s fleet has grown to 36,000 cars operating in 19 cities across five continents.
👀 Eye Openers
The new model of scaling African Fintechs”
📑 Read of the week
Is consolidation in African fintech inevitable?(amadi)
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Airtel Money ate into M-PESA’sdominance in Kenya, doubling market share to 7.6%.
Airtel Money subscriptions grew by 15% from June to September 2024.
M-KOPA won a trademark case against former agent imitating its name and logo.
M-Kopa’s Growth
Africa recorded high rate of national ID and driver’s license fraud in 2024 amid a surge in AI-driven incidents.
The most used documents for identity fraud in Africa - souce; Smile ID
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
The Interview with the Co-founder of Truzo on how they bridge trust back to African businesses.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
SIlicon Valley stablecoin startups are recognizing that African markets have uniquely high demand for their products.
Many run LatAm + Africa strategies from Day 1.
As I've said before, as much as Africa needs crypto, crypto needs Africa. Buckle up.— Stephen Deng (@mrstephendeng) January 28, 2025
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
Applications open for 4th Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator. Apply
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