Africa's 2024 Startup Funding Crosses $2B, Flutterwave's Send App Now Available in 49 US States, Zeno Raises $9.5M, and More
Africa Fintech Summit
The global initiative dedicated to building an ecosystem of investors, pioneers, industry leaders in African Fintech.
What's inside?
AND MORE!
Making the News?
African Startup Funding has surpassed $2.1B funding
Africa's startup funding has crossed the $2.1B mark as of 28 Sept 2024, as per Weetracker's compiled data .? This is great news for Africa's burgeoning tech ecosystem, which had recorded some?$1.7B in funding ?for the same period in 2023.? While the startup funding still lags behind the funding amount of $2.7B for the same period in 2022, it is a 35% YOY increase from the funding amount in 2023. This startup funding rebound, as well as diversification of funding sources and instruments, is in line with?AFTS' 2024 Fintech & Investment outlook .?
Latin American fintechs storm Africa in fiery digital gold rush
Latin American fintechs are increasingly turning their attention to Africa, drawn by the continent’s rapidly growing digital economy and financial access gaps as well as leveraging LATAM's experience that lends startups market/demographics transferability and adaptability advantages. LATAM Fintechs that expended to Africa include dLocal , EBANX , Minka and Payretailers - Read more at WeeTracker.?
West African super app Gozem launching fintech product in Togo
West African super app Gozem has announced the imminent launch of its fintech product Gozem Money in Togo, in partnership with NSIA Banque .?Launched in Togo in November 2018 as a taxi-hailing service, Gozem operates in 16 cities across Togo, Benin, Gabon and Cameroon, with more than one million users registered and over 20 million trips taken since its launch.? The announcement came just months after Gozem acquired Moneex, a Beninese startup specializing in electronic payments. The acquisition has helped Gozem speed up its entry into West Africa's financial market. - Disrupt Africa .
Ghana’s Kofa expands battery-swapping network via $5m SPV
Ghanaian startup Kofa , a forerunner in battery network solutions, is expanding its battery-swapping network in the West African country via a GBP6.15 million (US$5 million) special purpose vehicle (SPV). The startup, which recently announced plans to expand to Kenya and Togo in the near future , has now partnered impact investor PASH Global to expand its battery-swapping network in Ghana via an SPV backed by a GBP2.35 million (US$3 million) commitment from Shell Foundation , co-funded with the UK Government through its Transforming Energy Access (TEA) platform - Disrupt Africa .?
Mastercard and KaiOS partner to simplify acceptance for millions of SMEs in emerging markets
KaiOS ,?the leading operating system that brings the best of the internet to affordable devices, has announced a partnership with Mastercard to integrate a range of digital payments solutions. Beginning in Cote d’Ivoire and Nigeria, Mastercard and KaiOS will deliver affordable payment acceptance devices and stimulate the growth of a more inclusive, connected global economy.?As part of this extended collaboration, Mastercard and KaiOS will focus on African markets first, collaborating with partners like Touch and Pay Technologies (TAP) and Wizzit to extend access to in-market merchants. Read more HERE .?
Global Interoperability: Digital Wallets’ Next Challenge
The?Wallet Interoperability Council, announced?in August with founding members Airtel, bKash, M-PESA, Nequi &?Sama Money, aims to enable participating wallets to interconnect and interoperate for multiple cross-border transaction types, including remittances and merchant payments. Read what the council members are doing in the space of global interoperability, including insights from AFTSNAIROBI24 Keynote Speaker?Esther Waititu, Chief Financial Services Officer, Safaricom, via Forbes .?
Startup Activity ?
Kenya - Nairobi-based climate startup Flux sold Carbon removal credits worth US$370 each to the Milkywire Climate Transformation Fund through the CYNK platform - The Kenyan Wall Street.
Kenya - Mobility startup Zeno raises $9.5 million?to transform Africa’s energy and transport landscape with electric motorbikes in 2025 - Techpoint Africa .? ?
India - Helios Investment Partners has led a $100 million Series D funding round in India's M2P Fintech, a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) and Infrastructure API provider, to support Its expansion across Africa - Fintech Finance news.
Uganda -?Agent Banking Company of Uganda secures investment from Goodwell Investments via its $167 million uMunthu II fund to drive its growth - Disrupt Africa .?
Morocco - Userguest, a startup that empowers hotels to optimize their revenues, has raised $2.4m in a seed funding round led by Al Mada Ventures to drive product innovation and expansion - Disrupt Africa .??
Banking & Telecom Activity
Nigeria - CBN to sanction banks for ATM cash dispensing failures, plans to inject N1.4 trillion into circulation - Fintech Magazine Africa .?
Egypt - Egypt's Central Bank to sell a stake in United Bank through an IPO in 2025 - Reuters .? ?
Africa - IFC provides?Airtel Africa a $230M loan to expand connectivity in Africa - Tower Exchange .?
Merger & Acquisition Activity
Madagascar, C?te d’Ivoire -?AXIAN Completes Strategic Acquisition of a Stake in WiASSUR, an innovative insurance start-up basedin C?te d’Ivoire. This marks a key milestone for AXIAN Group’s expansion strategy in this sector - Fintech Finance News .?
Egypt - Egyptian angel investment syndicate Acasia Group acquired by US-based VC firm Sultan Ventures for an undisclosed amount - Disrupt Africa .?
Featured Read
The next decade is set to be Sub-Saharan Africa's digital trade
For the first time, over half the population in Sub-Saharan Africa will have access to the internet, while emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and the cloud could significantly accelerate the continent’s development.?According to new modelling by Public First, every $1 invested in digital technology in sub-Saharan Africa will create over $2 in wider economic value for the region by 2030;?a 1% increase in connectivity is associated with a 5.7% increase in GDP as well as?Google’s tools and services grew SSA's economy by an estimated $16 billion in 2023. Read the study and report HERE .?
Resources for Founders & Startups?
She Wins Climate Acceleration Program?- Opportunity for Women-Led Startups by IFC
IFC has opened applications to its funding program designed to accelerate women-led climate startups and increase their access to climate investment. Climate-focused VC fund managers can also join the 'We Fund Climate Peet Learning Platform' by IFC. Apply HERE .?
2024 Startup Funding to Date - WeeTracker
AFTS community in the news ?
Daba Finance wins 2024 Ecobank Fintech Challenge with $50K award
Daba Finance , winner of AFTS' 2023 New Venture Pitch Competition in Washington, D.C., clinched the first prize of $50k in the latest Ecobank Fintech Challenge, ?which concluded with a ceremony in Lome, Togo, last week. Daba is a unified investment platform that helps individuals and businesses make high-quality investments in Africa.?
Fincra launches?Fincra Multicurrency Account API?
AFTSNairobi2024 Exhibitor Fincra has launched?Fincra Multicurrency Account API , a new Banking as a Service (BaaS) product designed to help African and international businesses and platforms facilitate easy foreign currency transactions in USD and EUR, with more currencies to follow. Read more HERE .?
AFTSNairobi2024 gold sponsor Interswitch partners with eMaisha Pay to launch eMaisha Verve Life Card in East Africa
Interswitch has partnered with?eMaisha Pay (Baobab ‘24) to officially launch the eMaisha Verve Life card aimed at?enhancing access and usage of financial services for farmers and entrepreneurs in the agricultural sector. Interswitch's Managing Director, East Africa, and AFTSNairobi24 speaker Peter Kawumi highlighted the role of digital payments in the advancement and enhancement of financial Inclusion in the Agriculture value chain in his keynote during the launch event. Read more HERE .?
AFTS' longtime partner & Alpha Expo Pitch Competition supporter AWS collaborates with edtech Gebeya to accelerate Amazon’s global cloud skilling goals across Africa
As part of the collaboration, 1 million Africans across the continent are set to be trained in cloud and AI skills over the next two years?through a new centralized AWS Talent Cloud: platform.?This ambitious capability-building initiative directly contributes to Amazon's global commitment to provide AI skills training to 2 million people by 2025. Read more HERE.?
AFTS' longtime partner &?sponsor Flutterwave launches Send App in more states in the US
Flutterwave , Africa's most valuable unicorn, has announced that its remittance solution, Send App, is now available in 49 states in the United States. This means All U.S. users except those in Texas can easily and securely send money to Africa via Send App. Read more HERE .?
AFTS joins hands with Visit Nairobi to hold 'Gateway to Africa' Reception in NY on the sideline of #UNGA79
On the evening of 25th September, AFTS collaborated with AFTSNairobi24 Exhibitor Visit Nairobi for a joint Gateway to Africa reception during the UNGA week in NY. The reception gathered 100+ UNGA delegates, past and present AFTS ecosystem stakeholders, the Kenyan Diaspora, and investors. AFTS' Co-Founder & MD Zekarias Amsalu provided a brief summary of AFTSNairobi2024 and how it and past editions of the summit have contributed to the host countries' income from tourism. He also announced that the 13th AFTS will take place in Washington, DC, on April 24, 2025!?
Have your say - Where do you want AFTS to head to in Africa in 2025??
After concluding a successful and our best yet - summit in Nairobi this month, AFTS is now considering one of the 3 locations to run our 14th AFTS in Q3 od 2025. The cities we are considering as potential hosts of AFTS in 2025 are:
- Abidjan,?C?te d'Ivoire -?Seat of AFDB's HQ2
- Accra, Ghana - seat of AfCFTA Secretariat HQ3
- Nairobi, Kenya - Host city of 2024
Have your say and vote your choice HERE .?
Video of the Week
His Excellency?Eng. John Tanui, CBS,?Principal Secretary, State Department for The Digital Economy, ICT of Kenya, delivering an opening Keynote Address at the 12th Africa Fintech Summit at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nairobi on 5th Sept 2024. 680 in-person and 1,000+ virtual attendees attended the summit.?
Highlights from #AFTSNairobi2024