Hi Fintech friends 👋,
A lot has happened this week in Fintech, but before we delve into that, I have some exciting news for you;
We are coming back to Nairobi 🇰🇪 for our 3rd Annual Nairobi Fintech Meetup! Come meet the Opareta team building mobile money agents, as well as our partners Asilimia, Turaco, Peach Payments, Onafriq, HoneyCoin, and DCG.
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Three Fintech deals worth over $2.5 Million were announced.
Four Fintech Partnerships were announced.
Target Global backed African fintech pivoted to Edtech.
Nigeria's central bank banned banks and fintechs from international money transfers.
African’s Unicorn secured release of it’s $3 Million in Kenya
African based innovation hub launched a platform to enable access to startup funding.
Opportunity to work in one of three amazing African Fintechs.
💸 Fundraise and Exits
KoinKoin and SR FINANZMANNclosed a $2 million private funding round in a major boost to their corporate OTC business for foreign exchange and digital assets.
African startups raised $83 million in January 2024
Senegalese startup ProXalysraised $500,000 to scale its invoice-lending management tool.
Microlending startups in Africa
Zambian fintech Mighty Finance raised $75,000 funding from Village Capital and Standard Chartered Bank to provide access to capital for primarily women-led businesses.
💰 Venture Funds
Only Four African Countries Secured >$100m Funding In 2023 + Stark Decline Realities.
2023 startup funding in Africa at a Glance
AfriLabslaunchedConnect Deal Room to boost the local investment landscape.
Local Venture Capitalists Impacting Africa Venture Capital Market
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Klashapartnered with FOMO Pay to power cross-border payments between Africa and Asia.
China - Africa Trade Hits Record Highs in 2021
Centenary Banklaunched WhatsApp banking in Uganda.
Licensed Commercial Banks in Uganda
Tanzania based Fintech NALAannounced its updated mission “payments for the next Billion”, as it prepares to launch new payments services for consumers and businesses.
Tanzania Fintech based Startups
RiselaunchedAssetbase to help people invest and trade in private securities across every asset class, vetted by experts.
📰 News of the Week
Kippa’s product
Kippa , a financial management startup backed by Target Global, pivoted from fintech to edtech, offering an AI-powered platform for creating and delivering online courses. In 2023, the company laid off 40 employees after a difficult decision to shut down Kippa Pay, its agency banking business.
Duke Ekezie, the co-founder and President of Kippa left the company after Kippa Pay, the agency banking product he was in charge of, was shut down. Duke confirmed his exit from the company and has begun working on a different venture he declined to share specifics.
Kippa co-founders(from left; Duke, Uche and Kennedy).
Uche Jepthat, who also co-founded the company left Kippa in November 2022, two months after the startup announced that it raised $8.2 million in a second round of funding, per his Linkedin profile. He has co-founded another business, Earna, which offers benefits and wellness plans to employees.
📑 Read of the week
African startup equity funding plummets by 43% in 2023. (Benjamidada)
Overview of African startup equity funding in 2023
Incumbents, investors combine to support Africa’s thriving fintech space. (Disrupt Africa).
Despite glimmers of profit, most African neobanks remain in the red. (Techcrunch)
African Neobanking Landscape
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Nigeria’s Central Bank banned banks and Fintechs from international money transfer operations.
Nigeria Fintech Map 2023
Flutterwave’s funding rounds from series A to Series D at $3 Billion valuation
Ghana’s mobile money agents were forced to link accounts to Ghana Cards by February 1 .
Overview of Ghana Mobile Money Market and Forecast
Vodacom Group, including Safaricomtopped 200 million customers for the first time - doubling from 100 million in 2018.
Vodacom Africa footprint
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Interview with Aaron Fu, VC at Digital Currency Group , here he speaks about Venture Capital Mission, Africa Market Complexity and Terrorism Tragedy and Risk.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
50 companies active in #Africa capture 60%+ of all known $$ raised over the past decade, x data by Briter Intelligence.
Building on @briterbridges' #AfricaInvestmentReport 2023, our #CEOsBillboard looks at current CEOs and MDs and breaks down the figures by gender and ethnicity. pic.twitter.com/u1WShLwNM1— D (@Dario__Gln) January 30, 2024
🎯 Fintech Opportunities
Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚
