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From fundraises to partnerships to product launches & more, here's what happened in African fintech in April 2024. https://lnkd.in/eiqhc9dq Executives appearing in this edition: Paga’s Tayo Oviosu, Branch’s Matthew Flannery, Helios’ Elias Yazbeck, MTN South Africa’s Bradwin Roper, Lula’s Trevor Gosling, MoneyHash’s Nader Abdelrazik, Quona Capital’s Johan Bosini, Smile ID’s Mark Straub, Chipper Cash’s Brett Magrath, Luno’s Christo de Wit, Trove’s Oluwatomi Solanke, the IFC’s Emmanuel Nyirinkindi and Jessica Schnabel, Microsoft Africa’s Lillian Barnard, Sparkle’s Uzoma Dozie, Transunion Kenya’s Morris Maina, Mukuru’s Lorraine Nyawo, Verto’s Anthony O., Finch Technologies’ Christopher Ball, & others. Companies appearing in this edition: Thepeer, Paga Group Ltd, Mono, Onafriq, Yoco, Souhoola, Leatherback, ivorypay, Moniepoint Group, Mukuru, LemFi, Pesa ( Formerly Pesapeer), & others. News of the month: 1) Nigerian fintech infrastructure API provider ThePeer is closing down — was it too early or did something else happen? 2) Kenyan payments juggernaut Cellulant announced a cadre of new C-suite executives after losing its CEO & other senior leaders last year. 3) The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ordered four of Africa’s largest fintechs to suspend onboarding new customers until further notice. 📢 Afridigest is your intelligent guide to tech in Africa. The Afridigest Fintech Review is a recap of what matters in African fintech. Subscribe to the newsletter today as a free reader or a paying subscriber: afridigest.com/subscribe. #africa #tech #africatech #techinafrica #fintech #payments #lending #emergingmarkets #insights #intelligence

Nigeria Ranked Among The Top 20 Countries in The World That Googled “Fintech” in April 2023 A recent research by the Fintech News Network (FNN) has revealed that Nigeria ranked among the top 20 countries in the world, where people are searching for the term “fintech” the most. The Fintech News Network Index (FNNI), which ranked the countries and cities that are querying the word “fintech” the most on Google, revealed that in April 2023, Internet users in Nigeria, Singapore, and Hong Kong showed the most interest in the sector. With over 250 licensed Fintech companies, the Nigerian fintech sector is experiencing tremendous growth, as several startups and innovators emerge with new financial solutions. It is not far-fetched to say that Nigeria’s FinTech ecosystem is rapidly evolving into one of Africa’s most vibrant sectors with huge growth potential. #Nigeriafintechecosystem #fintechnews #fintechrevolution #fintechstartups

Saturday musings# “Every day is a bank account, time is our currency. No one is rich, no one is poor, we’ve got 24 hours each” – Chris Rice Of all the tech, FinTech has been the leader of that revolution, combining banking to financial services to platforms, with startups, investors and fluctuating fortunes. However funding for Fintech has run into choppy waters in recent times, owing to varied economic and geopolitical reasons. Some stats… S&P Global Market Intelligence reports that Fintech got funding of 62 bn USD in 2022, down by 32% from 2021 and further decline by 50% in 2023 to 39 bn USD! Funding for Fintech startups fell by 72%, wealth tech fell by 61% and payment startups down by 30%. Of the declined overall VC funding of 248 bn USD, USA accounted for 41% of the overall deals, with Asia at 20%, with annual M&A exit volume sitting at 612, with 8 new Fintech Unicorns. The glorious exceptions have been the story of 2 KSA based Fintech minicorns – Tabby and Tamara, who raised close to 600 mn USD in 2023, contributing to a massive 70% share of the entire Middle East’s corpus value, with Tabby, BNPL firm as the highest valued unicorn at 1.5 bn USD! FinTech’s ascendency also depends on the resurgence of its bigger cousins- banking! GCC’s listed banks have performed well, with gross profits rising by 27% to hit 44 bn USD. A related phenomenon of IPOs also echoed a positive sentiment, with 19 IPOs in 2023 worth 4.9 bn USD, with KSA’s ADES Holding Company contributing 25% and UAE’s Pure Health Holding with 20% of the overall pie. Some emerging catalysts of change are reportedly Egypt based Investment platform Thndr, Money Flows, digitizing “local money circles” and KSA based Lean Technologies, first 3rd party regulated open banking platform! Another interesting stat pack shows while fintech sector in emerging venture markets like MENAPT & South East Asia was down by 51% in 2023, KSA has been able to buck the trend with an increase of 181% yoy. Whilst UAE ranks 3rd by number of fintech deals hovering at 38, KSA with 32, Turkey with 27; Singapore is No. 1 at 51, followed by Nigeria at 47! The focus areas are quite clear. So what’s next for Fintech in 2024? Embedded finance, Open banking, AI powered personalization, Cybersecurity, utility models like Buy now pay later, alternative lending, credit score alternatives, Mint like budgeting apps, synthetic identify fraud solutions, central bank digital currencies, DeFi….the future is only limited by our imagination and the latent need! Global talents, contoured remits, tech stack to monetization journey, startup to IPO to sale, revolutionizing services sectors with tech as pivot and incubation ecosystem inherently Fintech led, these are interesting times indeed! James Douglas Middle East is well invested in the Fintech sector and our body of work is getting interestingly layered, with more CXO suite and strategic hires. #Fintech #JamesDouglasMiddleEast #Futureofhiring

Singapore, Nigeria top global fintech search – Report - Businessday NG: Global trend on Google shows that Singapore, Nigeria, and Hong Kong stand out as the top three locations where the term "fintech" is... #finpeform #fintech

About 10 days ago I was in Limassol, Cyprus 🇨🇾, to attend Forbes Cyprus The Future of Fintech Summit for the first time. Apart from the 23°C in December (a blessing when you live in Lithuania!), and although I still can't predict the future (I knew I shouldn't have bought my crystal ball 🔮 from Wish!), I'm quite optimistic about Fintechs in 2024 and let me tell you why. - Even if the geopolitical and economic situation shows no signs of improving any time soon, fintechs are starting to show resilience and are actually managing to adapt their offerings to meet customer demand o Isn't BNPL the best example of this (wait, don't shoot, I didn't say finding another way to put people into debt was a good example 😉)? o Also, as you may have seen, Revolut will soon be offering mortgage financing in some EU countries - let's see how that goes, but more competition in this area certainly can't hurt right now. - Although finding the right balance between operational flexibility and proper risk management remains a big challenge (see: recent fines for Solaris Bank, Railsbank, JP Morgan, Modulr, etc...), there's still a lot of room for growth in the BaaS space, especially when it comes to embedded payments (still benefiting from the continued growth of e-commerce). - AND YES! you've heard it before and I'll say it again: the regulatory environment for fintechs will only get more complex in 2024. o But the good news is that it will also get a lot clearer, and personally, between complex and clear OR uncertain and simpler, I'll take the former any day. o Also, the maturity of the fintech ecosystem isn't just a nice thing to say, it's actually a thing for a lot of companies that are now skilled and experienced. Oh, and talking to some VCs last week, I realised that my optimism for the fintech ecosystem in 2024 is far from mainstream... what's your feeling 🤔? NB: In the pic is a snapshot of our panel discussion together with Simone Paul Tamussin, Yiannos Ashiotis, Demetris Taxitaris and Dr. Max Bernt. AMLYZE #Fintech

A Financial Revolution: Nigeria's Fintech Titans - Clayton County Register -: With the rise of fintech companies like Flutterwave, Interswitch, Opay, and Esusu, Nigeria is leading the charge in Africa's fintech revolution.

The Ghana-based fintech accelertor StartOA has partnered with EMTECH, a modern Central Banking Infrastructure provider, to explore new possibilities for fintechs to leverage the EMTECH Central Bank Digital Currecy Innovation Toolkit and Regulatory Sandbox. The CBDC Innovation Toolkit is a turnkey offering for fintech to test their apps with the simulated CBDC token. The simulated cash is for exploring and innovating purposes to help fintech companies understand how the digital cash infrastructure could work for their apps and platforms. The Digital Regulatory Sandbox, on the other hand, is a trusted marketplace for regulators and innovators to test new ideas and go to market faster. Commenting on the collaboration, Dziwornu Norbert, the Programs Manager at StartOA, mentioned, "At StartOA, our primary objective is to collaborate with industry players who are revolutionizing Africa's fintech landscape, and regulation is a crucial component of this mission. Our partnership with EMTECH will empower fintechs in emerging markets to grow, expand faster, and maintain compliance with regulatory requirements. We believe this collaboration will help unlock the potential of the African fintech market and promote innovation, resilience and compliance in the sector." The partnership between StartOA and EMTECH will provide resources to fintech startups across Africa. By supporting emerging fintech solutions that drive financial inclusion at scale, the two companies aim to establish Africa as a fintech powerhouse. This, in turn, can help to boost economic growth and improve financial inclusion across the continent. #fintech #innovation #startups

Earlier this week, thanks to Sahar Atif, I had the privilege of engaging with a bright group of entrepreneurship students, whose questions and insights reminded me why I'm so passionate about fintech. Their curiosity about the fintech landscape in Pakistan sparked a thought-provoking discussion on opportunities, saturation, and the industry's intricate dance with traditional banking systems. Reflecting on our conversation, I'm inspired to share and extend this dialogue with the LinkedIn network at large. Emerging Spaces in Fintech: Pakistan's fintech sector is a vibrant ecosystem brimming with potential. From digital payments and remittances to innovative lending platforms, and the current interest of many in Raast - we're seeing the emergence of solutions tailored to meet the unique needs of our population. Particularly interesting is the narrative or focus on financial inclusion, and additionally the desire of some to completely revamp the customer journey. I was asked specifically if the real market is already saturated, with all of the fintechs already trying to capture the market. The question of saturation in Pakistan's fintech space is an interesting one, given the surge of new entrants. However, considering the vast untapped market and the evolving needs of consumers, the opportunity for innovation is far from exhausted. What has the potential of making the market interesting is when the incumbent banks, and wallets, really innovate and think interestingly about how they wish to serve the market digitally, or find partners that will be able to use the banks to scale. A question that's been brewing in my mind - is there a day that digital banks or fintechs will overtake the conventional banks. When does that happen? The last interesting conversation that came up - from current and future freelancers, a reality that we must all think about - customers eventually default to banks - and value the high touch relationship of banks. Customers that get large enough step away from wallets and fintechs because they are now served by banks as "valuable customers". This reality underscores the importance of building synergies with traditional financial institutions and regulatory bodies to craft solutions that not only attract but also retain customers. It's about complementing, not competing with, banks to create a more robust, accessible, and user-friendly financial landscape. These conversations with the entrepreneurs of tomorrow have reinforced my belief in the transformative power of fintech in Pakistan. But more importantly, they've highlighted the need for us, the fintech community, to continuously push the boundaries of innovation, collaboration, and regulation to truly democratize financial services. #FintechPakistan #Innovation #FinancialInclusion #DigitalBanking #Entrepreneurship

🏦 Overview of Spanish banks leading the way in fintech investments 📰 TLTR: Spanish banks actively invest in tech firms, but most of their initiatives are industry-agnostic; top 3 are BBVA, Santander & Sabadell Undergoing a shift from the traditional to the tech, Spain's banking giants are increasingly eyeing the fintech sector, whether it's commercial agreements, investments or acquisitions. Here's how they're shaping the future of finance, from most to least active: 🥇 BBVA emerges as the frontrunner, leveraging its investment vehicles like US-based Propel VC & Spanish-based BBVA Spark to back a plethora of fintechs globally. Both are in principle industry-agnostic, with the former focusing on New Economy early-stage startups in the Americas while the lattest targets high impact early-stage and growth firms in Spain and LATAM. Fintech investments include Propel's backing of: - Parcha, which provides AI-based compliance for banks and fintechs and received $3.3M from Propel VC - Personal Capital: a personal financial management tool based in the US - Coinbase: the well-known cryptocurrency exchange platform And BBVA Sparks has also backed: - Payflow (YC S21), our local fintech champion which received €20M from BBVA Sparks - Twinco Capital: the Madrid-based fintech got €50M from BBVA 🥈 Banco Santander isn't far behind. Their investments include: - Ebury: Banco Santander holds a 51% stake in the international payment giant Ewhich was founded by two Spaniards and eyes a public listing by 2025 - Fnality International: a London-based payment solution; Banco Santander participated in their £77M+ Series B; - Komgo: a Swiss-based software development and technology services company transforming the trade finance industry - signifying its strong fintech presence and support for startups like - Atempo Growth: the bank backs this pan-european fund which invests in a lot of fintechs (amongst others). 🥉 Banco Sabadell operates through SABADELL VENTURE CAPITAL SL which is another industry-agnostic fund. Through entering various sectors including fintechs like StudentFinance, aiming to diminish the digital talent gap. 🏅 Smaller Entities and Collaborations: Banks like ABANCA embrace accelerators to nurture fintech growth, while Unicaja partners with fintechs across various segments, including a recent tie-up with Divilo for SME and freelancer digital payment solutions. In short, Spanish banks do invest in fintechs but most of their initiatives are actually industry-agnostic. Having spoken with a several of these entities at #MWC24 this year, I got the same impression. 😕 Imo it's a shame that we don't have a higher amount of more targeted, fintech-specific funds based here. 👉 Let's discuss this further at our upcoming event on Wed 24 Apr: https://lnkd.in/dRHXfTfG #bcnfintech #barcelona #fintech #investment #banks /post led by Clemens Rychlik with the help of Pau, BCN FinTech's customized LinkedIn GPT made by Bourbon Creative

Any African Investor Here? I built something Amazing, an Offline Decentralized Exchange! I believe Offline DeFi is an underrated opportunity, especially in Africa, where USSD is not just a technology but a deeply ingrained culture. Just two months, our region experienced a sea-cable issue that left many without internet access. However, USSD transactions continued seamlessly, showcasing the resilience and ubiquity of this channel. The Nigerian USSD and payment collection industry alone is valued at over $1 billion (source: Nairametrics), a testament to the widespread adoption and reliance on this technology across the continent. Source Link: https://rb.gy/iu6zb0 Existing African FinTech companies are already capitalizing on this customer behavior, but there's an untapped potential that we're aiming to unlock. The idea for our Offline DeFi project was born out of a personal experience during a power outage. Unable to make transactions quickly due to internet connectivity issues, I lost access to my funds. As someone who had previously built with USSD, I realized that tying my wallet to my mobile number could have prevented this problem. This eureka moment led me to explore the intersection of USSD and decentralized finance (DeFi). After realizing that this space was largely untapped, I set out to build a Decentralized Exchange and a ZK lending platform, among other innovative solutions. Today, I'm thrilled to share a sneak peek of our project's capabilities. In the accompanying video, you'll see that I've logged in using my telephone number, showcasing the multi-user functionality already in place. With immediate support and seed funding, I'm confident we can deploy this game-changing solution within a few weeks. Our vision is to empower everyone with true financial capabilities, breaking down barriers to accessibility and driving financial inclusion in the truest sense. By embracing the power of USSD and Offline DeFi, we can unlock a future where financial freedom knows no boundaries, even in the absence of reliable internet connectivity. I firmly believe that this project has the potential to revolutionize the African financial landscape and beyond. However, realizing this vision requires strategic partnerships and investment from forward-thinking individuals who share our commitment to empowering communities and driving inclusive economic growth. If you're an investor passionate about pushing the boundaries of financial technology and creating tangible impact, I invite you to join us on this transformative journey. Let's unlock the untapped potential of USSD and Offline DeFi, and pave the way for a future where financial freedom is truly accessible to all. PART 2 video LINK TO PART 1 video https://lnkd.in/dFnPT4wn Y Combinator Z Fellows Cory Levy Uniswap Labs The Arbitrum Foundation