Africa Weekly Tech News Round-up
Ali Hussein Kassim
CEO, Executive Leadership Coach, Tech Executive & Investor, Board Member, Advisor to Boards, Operating at the Intersection of Marketing & Technology, Keynote Speaker
A round-up of an exciting week in the African Tech Startup Scene.
Here are the key highlights from last week:-
Kenya’s embedded finance fintech Pezesha has raised a pre-Series A equity-debt round led by Women's World Banking Capital Partners II with participation from Verdant Frontiers Fintech Fund, CFund.id , and The Cardano Blockchain builder Input Output Global (IOG). The round also included a $5 million debt from Talanton and Verdant Capital Specialist Funds. The funding is ear marked for expansion into expands into Nigeria, Rwanda and Francophone Africa.
Pezesha is led and founded by Hilda Moraa , an accomplished #FinTech Entrepreneur who already has one exit under her belt with the exit of Weza Tele ltd , a #FinTech she founded, a couple of years back. Pezesha , which means capital enabler, has built a holistic digital financial trust infrastructure that is on a mission?to provide affordable financial services to underserved small and medium businesses (SMBs) in Sub-Saharan?Africa.
Unfazed by regulatory headwinds, Flutterwave , Africa's most in-your-face #FinTech has announced plans for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq stock exchange. Flutterwave , valued at more than $3 billion and backed by? B Capital ?and? Tiger Global Management , is worth more than the largest bank in Nigeria.
Anchor (YC S22), a Nigerian?#BaaS?(Banking-as-a-Service)?#FinTech, comes out of 'Stealth-mode' to announce a raise of $1 million to accelerate its market entry.
Read what the Founder and CEO,?Segun Adeyemi?said of the opportunity - “For startups building a full-scale?#digitalbank?or providing?#embeddedfinance, we can provide #compliance?covering that allows them to launch quickly. So from build to embed to launch, our goal is how can we do all of that in the shortest time possible without compromising on?#security,?#compliance, and?#scalability. That’s our #valueproposition...”
In a Facebook post, the prime minister’s office said opening up banking to foreign investors would “transform our country’s economy by boosting it to have a better link with the international market”.
The cabinet agreed the policy and passed a draft resolution at a meeting, state-affiliated news agency Fana said in a tweet.
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What does this mean for the #FinancialServices Sector in Ethiopia in particular and Africa in general. I shall be collaborating with Robert Ochieng in the coming days to discuss this in detail. Keep it here.
The country’s Central Bank has issued a directive ordering all cryptocurrency operators to register with INSA which is the national cybersecurity agency. Ethiopia seems to be following the Central African Republic's cue as it moves to allow crypto in the country. My take? Early days...Let's wait and see.
DPO Pay by Network has received the official approval from the Central Bank of Kenya to operate as a Payment Service Provider (#PSP) in the country. There are less than 10 licensed PSPs in Kenya so this is a big deal.
The National Payment System Act requires all PSPs to undergo a rigorous license application process before providing payment services in Kenya.
DPO Pay by Network is a Pan-African payment service provider. It serves over 100,000 merchants enabling modern electronic payments across all currencies and methods – whether debit or credit cards, mobile money or e-wallets. Its clients including airlines, hotels, restaurants, e-commerce, schools, insurance, car rental and travel agents across Africa. It has partnered with over 50 African banks; including the Standard Bank Group, EcoBank, Equity Bank, UBA, KCB Bank Kenya, Diamond Trust Bank, Barclays, First National Bank, Nedbank, Absa all supporting our robust program of investment to drive Pan-African commerce, financial inclusion and economic development.
In 2021, Network International , a regional #FinTech headquartered in Dubai, UAE, acquired 100 per cent of DPO Pay by Network , choosing to let it continue to operate under the same brand in its existing territories.
Chumz.io, a Kenyan based #FinTech?has graduated from?the Capital Markets Authority- Kenya?Sandbox as a Collective Investment Schemes(CIS) platform.
Chumz.io is a savings platform that is revolutionising the savings culture in Africa. Through behavioural?psychology techniques, the Chumz App can ease saving and investment experiences for its users. Goal-based?investing, social nudges and default bias are some ways users can kick start and nurture their savings habits.
Interesting times ahead for African FinTech!