Stablecoin Market Map
Hi Fintech friends 👋,
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Africa’s ecommerce platform raised funding to scale its fintech efforts.
A new $10 Million fund was launched for MEA startups.
Kenya’s second biggest bank fired 1,200 staff after an internal $15.4 million fraud probe.
One of world’s biggest crypto platform opened physical office in Nigeria.
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💸Fundraise and Exits
Jumia raised money from Axian to boost its digital retail and fintech efforts.
💰 Venture Funds
COREangelslaunched a $10 Million fund to invest in MEA startups.
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Fincra got South African payments licence to deepen African reach.
👔 Leadership Lineup
Kenya’s Equity Group fired1,200 staff after an internal $15.4 million fraud probe.
📰 News of the Week
Sycamore, a Nigerian digital lender was raising $628K to complete a $1.5 million debt funding round, just one week after securing $943K debt from Cascador, a Nigerian entrepreneurship accelerator.
Nigerian Alternative Lending Market
It disbursed over $5.5 million in loans in 2024 and has generated over $3.5 million in revenue, with over $1.5 million earned in 2024 alone, a 115.19% year-on-year growth.
Sycamore serves 300,000 users through its peer-to-peer lending platform and plans to issue over 10,000 loans with the combined $1.5 million over the next year and hopes to serve an additional 5,000 to 10,000 businesses.
👀 Eye Openers
Despite unclear regulations, Nigeria is still attracting crypto firms? Blockchain.co opened a Nigeria office, becoming the first foreign crypto firm to establish a physical presence. With the rise of stablecoins, Nigeria’s large market size, and strong demand-driven use cases, should we expect other companies to follow this path?
📑 Read of the week
The man who led Yoco from start-up to a R12-billion($671 Million) payments giant. (My Broadband)
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Access Bank’s HydrogenOvertookGTCO’s HabariPay as Most Profitable Bank-Owned Fintech in Q1 2025.
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
The real reason people are using Stablecoins.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
On my way to @thestablecon. In honor of the million convos I'll have about USD stablecoins in Africa, here's some of our thinking:
* Right now, we operate in first-party settlement worlds, where African stablecoin companies must deal with offramp + FX legs outside of formal…— Stephen Deng (@mrstephendeng) May 27, 2025
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
East African Fintechs can apply for €100K Grant funding from Developpp.
Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚
