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Habari fintech friends,
Building fintech in Africa has always felt like playing a video game on the hardest setting. But just when you thought you had your mechanics down, the Central Bank of Kenya decided to crank the difficulty straight to "Nightmare Mode."
Draft regulations hit the street under the National Payment System Bill, proposing minimum core capital requirements for payment service providers from $38,500 up to a staggering $1.93 million, depending on your licensing tier. Wallet providers and card schemes sit near the top, while even simple payment gateways need nearly $77,000. Existing players would have just one year from enactment to comply. If this passes, early-stage boot-strappers won't just need a solid MVP and a tight deck, they’ll need institutional-grade balance sheets just to open the front door.
A $1.93 million capital floor pulls up the drawbridge for independent seed-stage startups, hand-delivering market dominance to balance-sheet-heavy incumbents and bank-backed rails (it’s no coincidence KCB Group is moving to secure a 22.2% stake in Pesapal). When regulatory capital outpaces early-stage venture funding, the pipeline narrows to only those who can afford permission before processing a single transaction.
Ironically, the same bill mandates open finance and system interoperability, opening the technical pipes while simultaneously raising the financial gates.
There is hard... and then there is Africa.
— Jovin
Please find another week of fintech news below:
The Rundown
🏦 M&A
Tanzania’s regulator revealed KCB Group’s plan to acquire a 22.23% stake in Pesapal.
🚀 Product Launches
Kenswitch launched Kenya's first national domestic card scheme to expand local payment processing.
Paystack launched South Africa’s first direct onsite card checkout application for Shopify merchants.
Yellow Card expanded its crossborder stablecoin operations into North America by launching in Canada.
Piggyvest unveiled a redesigned app alongside new accounts for kids, businesses, and joint users.
Remita launched a comprehensive super app integrating multi-bank management, international transfers, and payments.
Raenest expanded its stablecoin financial product offerings by introducing a high yield vault.
💸 Fundraises
🗂️ Other News
Kenya proposed minimum capital requirements up to $1.93 million for payment service providers.
Bank Zero reached its first monthly break-even through strategic alliance partnerships and doubled deposits.
Flutterwave appointed Morounke Olufemi as its new Global Chief Financial Officer.
Yellow Card appointed Ross Everett as Group Chief Financial Officer to scale global operations.
Flutterwave convened global stakeholders at UNGA 2026 to discuss driving African economic growth.
Who moved the needle in fintech this year?
We’re recognizing the top leaders across Startups, Big Companies, Founders, VCs, and Social Good at our year-end Fintech Formal on Dec. 11 in New York. Judging is 100% independent—TWIF doesn't vote.
Quote of the Week
TWIF FAQs
Which digital payments network, founded in 2010 by Dare Okoudjou, connects over 400 million mobile wallets across 35+ African countries to enable real-time cross-border settlements?
(Find the answer at the signoff below!)
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Before we wrap this up…
Did you guess which digital payments network, founded in 2010 by Dare Okoudjou, connects over 500 million mobile wallets across more than 40 African countries to enable real-time cross-border settlements?
The answer is Onafriq (formerly MFS Africa). By building the continent's largest digital payments hub and "network of networks," Onafriq made cross-border interoperability a reality across Africa, seamlessly linking mobile wallets, bank accounts, and global financial rails.
That’s all for today, friends. See you next Monday.
Asante.
