The revenue projection of fintechs in Africa.
Hi Fintech friends 👋, I'm publishing this newsletter from China, where I'm spending a few weeks. If you know any African or global fintechs with an interest in Africa that have a presence in China, kindly introduce them to me at [email protected] so we can meet and discuss more Fintech business.
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Nigeria’s SEC announced that it will issue the first Crypto Licenses in August.
Two African fintechs raised their series A and B funding rounds.
South Africa’s Neo Bank with $222 Million in customer deposits planned to expand in Indonesia.
World’s largest Crypto exchange enabled its customers in different African countries to trade Cryptors via Mobile Money.
Nigeria’s payments Unicorn partnered with one of the largest global card network owners.
💸Fundraise and Exits
Kenya based HR and payroll platform Workpayraised $5 Million in Series A funding.
Top 10 African HR and Payroll platforms
Ghana and Uganda focused credit lender Fidoraised its Series B.
Digital Finance in Africa 2023
💰 Venture Funds
Egypt’s T-Vencubator, a leading venture capital firm and incubator launched its inaugural investment programme, and aims to invest in five startups by the end of the year.
EGYPT NUMBER OF STARTUP DEALS AND FUNDING
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
TymeBank, the South African digital bank with $222 million in customer deposits said it will launch in Indonesia by the end of 2024.
TymeBank growth
Flutterwavepartnered with American Express to allow Nigerian merchants to receive payments from American Express card customers.
Flutterwave products
State of Mobile Money in Sub-Saharan Africa 2023
Stripeplanned to allow US retailers to sell directly to Nigerians.
Nigerian Population grew by 77% in 22 years.
Yellow Card partnered with Fireblocks to Streamline Cross-Border Transactions in Africa.
👔 Leadership Lineup
OmniRetail,an African B2B e-commerce and financial services providerhired ex-Jumia commercial lead Steve Dakayi to lead Francophone expansion.
Country Lead for Ivory Coast, Steve Dakayi and the CEO of OmniRetail, Deepankar Rustagi.
📰 News of the Week
Nigerian SEC to issue first Crypto licenses in August.
Image source: Pymnts
“Approval is yet to be given to anyone,” SEC Director General Emomotimi Agama told TechCabal. The regulator will issue its first licences for digital service and tokenized assets in August, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
Since February 2024, crypto exchanges have faced increased scrutiny from Nigerian regulators. The government accused crypto traders of using P2P trading to manipulate the naira. Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA) also classified crypto trading as a national security issue.
Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange, has been at the center of a regulatory clampdown in Nigeria with the company facing money laundering challenges and one of its executives detained. Nigeria Central Bank Governor Olayemi Cardoso claimed $26 billion in untraceable transactions were processed by Binance.
👀 Eye Openers
Telecoms (Owners of Mobile Money) Want It All for Themselves.
Access to build on top of their platforms is very limited. Firas Ahmad, founder of the Tanzania-based mobile money company Azam Pesa, refers to this as a “walled garden strategy.”
If you compete in other areas, they will do whatever it takes to stop you. Recently, Kenya’s telecom operator, which owns the largest mobile money service, asked the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) to review its decision to grant independent licenses to satellite service providers, warning that such an arrangement could allow illegal connections and cause harm.
One person gave this advice that, if taken by telecoms, could real impact the African tech ecosystem: “Please learn to grow the cake to achieve a larger pie, and avoid becoming overly comfortable with a bigger slice of a smaller cake.”
📑 Read of the week
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Nigerian fintech lost $90K initially recovered from fraudsters.
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Interview with Thomas Brennan, the co-founder and CEO of Franc, an investment marketplace that's making it easier than ever for all South Africans to grow their wealth.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
B2B cross-border payments is the current wave in African VC. I do think there will be winners.
I don't think it's those stitching together a software layer on top of what's already happening and feeding off of forex swings.
Building OTC desks with an API on the side ain't it.— Stephen Deng 邓广藻 (@mrstephendeng) August 22, 2024
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
People will be talking about this event for weeks after it happens.
3 sponsors confirmed. 2 more slots remaining. If you’re keen, this is the time. Please reach me at [email protected]. Historically, ALL our Africa events sell out completely. People will be talking about this event for weeks after it happens. @twifintech delivers. https://t.co/WGo2V74CcI— Wiza J. (f/acc) (@wizaj) August 15, 2024
3 sponsors confirmed. 2 more slots remaining. If you’re keen, this is the time. Please reach out at [email protected].
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