6 of the Most Innovative African Fintech Companies

Africa's fintech market is booming, and it shows no sign of slowing down.

Between 2020 and 2021,?the number of tech start-ups in Africa tripled to approximately 5,200 companies. Just under 50% those companies are fintechs.

And McKinsey analysis estimates that Africa’s financial-services market could grow at about 10% per annum, reaching about $230 billion in revenues by 2025 ($150 billion excluding South Africa, the largest and most mature market on the continent).

Africa Tech Festival, the continent's largest and most influential tech event, hosts an annual award ceremony to celebrate the best in business across the continent, with a category dedicated to fintech innovation.

The Fintech Innovation of the Year Award recognises the organisation, project or individual who deserves recognition for their innovation and disruption to the African Fintech space in 2022.

Six shortlisted candidates have been selected this year. Here are the 2022 candidates:

Kyanda Africa is a fintech startup originally founded in Kenya that offers digital financial services to businesses, SMEs and users.?

Through commission-based, payment aggregation partnerships with banks, telcos, utility and financial institutions. Kyanda offers utility payments, airtime servces, bill payments and money transfer services. The same is offered to businesses through our powerful APIs.?

Vote for Kyanda Africa

PremierCredit is a financial technology company that operates an online microlending and investment platform in emerging markets in Southern Africa.?

Since 2019 PremierCredit has been offering micro-loans in Zambia, supporting local entrepreneurs and small-scale traders, many of whom are women, increasing their access to capital and the ability to grow their businesses.?

With the support of its partner banks in Zimbabwe, PremierCredit provides affordable bicycles to the last mile, smartphones and Solar equipment on a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) model to underserved communities across Zimbabwe. PremierCredit uses AI technology that makes lending and Investments simple, fast, and easy to access. The Peer-to-Peer Lending platform is a first mover on the Zambian market and plays a pivotal role in bridging the gap on access to financial services.?

Vote for PremierCredit Zambia

Stitch is an API infrastructure company that enables simple, easy access to user financial accounts.

Their mission is to make it easier for businesses across Africa to build, optimise and scale financial solutions.

The?financial graph?refers to a connected network of financial capabilities that interoperates across regions, providers, banks, and other types of financial accounts. With access to the graph, businesses can write code once to build their foundation, and easily launch new products or expand into multiple markets without needing to rebuild the infrastructure from scratch.

Today, Stitch are working with key partners in each market to build the tapestry of the future money movement.

Vote for Stitch

One of the most exciting developments is the launch of the Chipper Card. Available in both NGN/USD currencies, having access solves critical problems accessing card-products that are faced by many Nigerians, and opens up opportunities for payment across a wide range of local and international merchants.?

The Chipper USD Card has a monthly max of $5,000, a significant upgrade from most other bank cards, many of which cap monthly spending at just $50. On top, customers using the Chipper Card gain 5% cashback on every transaction made using the platform.?

Today, more than five million people use Chipper Cash to move money to where it is needed most. And Chipper Cash remains focused on its mission to unlock barriers to banking in Africa.?

Vote for Chipper Cash

FinBraine Fintech Pvt. Ltd., an Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies-based Fintech solution provider for various industry segments including but not limited to Telecom, Mobile Money, Mobile Wallet, Government, Banking, other FIa€?s. FinBraine strategically aligns with the goals of their customers through a technology-led, client-centric approach that creates business value for organizations coming from diverse industries.?

FinBraine solutions harnesses the power of advanced predictive algorithms and decision models to build next-gen intelligent tech solutions. We have implemented EKYC and also Lending solutions such as On-Demand Credit and Buy Now Pay Later for several financial instituions in India as well as in international markets.?

FinBraine was born with an intent to democratize access to capital and to ensure that credit is available on demand and in doing so we are building a business with a purpose! Our vision is to assign a credit limit and deliver on-demand credit to those who lack the opportunity to obtain credit from banks or other financial institutions. We are on a mission to provide a mouldable, seamless, and a reliable Fintech solution experience to all stakeholders who are part of the on-demand digital lending journey. Our goal is to help to create an intelligent and trustworthy ecosystem for the end-to-end lending cycle which should benefit society as a whole.??

Vote for Finbraine Fintech

Whilst financial inclusion has come a long way in Africa, it has so much further to go. And employers are uniquely positioned to drive financial inclusion on the continent as they are a key source of income for many people.?

Floatpays partners with Africa's employers by integrating its technology into employers' payroll systems, to facilitate financial inclusion and financial wellness of Africa's working people.?

Floatpays offers a holistic solution to building financial wellness across 4 key dimensions:

1. Help people reduce reliance on debt through on-demand earned wage access
2. Help people develop a savings discipline through paycheck linked savings
3. Help people gain financial protection through its financial service marketplace offerings
4. Help people learn how to manage their money effectively through free financial education and budgeting tools.

Floatpays' technology makes financial inclusion and wellness more attainable. Floatpays deserves to win as it is a technological catalyst of positive societal impact that is sustainable.

Vote for Floatpays

Want to learn more about the Africa Tech Festival Awards?

The Africa Tech Festival Awards celebrate the innovators who are enabling transformation, inclusivity, and digital democracy across the African continent.

In 2022, the categories span from healthtech innovation, to connectivity projects, hot startups, VC's & Investors, and many more.

Head to the website to discover all eleven categories and this year's shortlisted applicants.