Moniepoint Raises $110M Series C Funding to Become Africa's Latest Unicorn, Access Bank to Acquire National Bank of Kenya for $100M, and More
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Making the News!
Africa's newest unicorn Moniepoint raises $110M in Series C?funding
Moniepoint, a Nigerian Fintech startup in the agent banking space and that?provides retail banking services targeting SMEs, has closed a $110M series C funding round led by?Development Partners International (DPI) and?FT Partners advised on the deal.?Moniepoint powers most of Nigeria’s point-of-sale (POS) transactions as the country’s largest merchant acquirer, and it processes over 800 million transactions, with monthly total value exceeding $17 billion. The 'vide of the week' segment of this newsletter has a fire side chat of Moniepoint Co-Founder & CEO, Tosin, held in AFTSDC22 providing more insight into the growth trajectory of Moniepoint.?
Google's AI Fund awards funding to 10 Nigerian startups?
The Nigerian Federal Ministry of Communications, Innovation & Digital Economy (FMCIDE) announced an N2.8bn AI fund to accelerate AI talent development across Nigeria and 10 Nigerian startups have been selected as beneficiaries of the fund. Each will receive ?100 million in funding, along with up to $3.5 million in Google Cloud Credits to help scale their solutions.?- Technext24.?
African ‘gender equal’ VC Janngo Capital closes second fund at $78M?
African VC firm Janngo Capital has closed its second fund at €73 million (about $78 million), 20% more than its initial target of €60 million (about $63 million).?The firm marked the first close of the fund at €34 million in 2022, roping in limited partners such as the AfDB and EIB - Tech Crunch.?
Ethiopia's Central Bank launches Inter-Bank Money Market Platform?
The interbank money market platform, which will be exclusively hosted on ESX's electronic trading platform, was launched this week with the Central Bank Governor and Commercial Banks' Presidents in presence. The interbank money market segment will be exclusively hosted on ESX's electronic trading platform.
Techstars Lagos shuts down after two years and 24 investments?
Two years after launching its accelerator program in Nigeria, ARM Labs Lagos Techstars - also known as Techstars Lagos-?has shut down had invested about $2.4 million in startups - Techcabal.?
Merger & Acquisition Activity
Kenya - Access Bank gets approval to acquire National Bank of Kenya in deal thought to be worth $100 million?
The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved Access Bank’s acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya (NBK) from KCB Group, provided it retains 80% of the staff for one year. The deal will now need the approval of the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) - Techcabal.??
Ghana - Online retail platform Tendo Technologies completes strategic acquisition of Shopa
The vertical and horizontal consolidation of Africa's tech ecosystem is accelerating as predicted at the AFTS' 2024 expectation editorial last January. This week,?Tendo Technologies Limited, a pioneering online retail platform empowering African entrepreneurs officially announces its strategic acquisition of Shopa, a leading provider of comprehensive commerce solutions for informal retailers across Ghana - Techcabal.?
Sistema.bio acquires Inclusive Energy to enhance operations with digital
Sistema.bio, a Nairobi-based biogas technology company, has announced the acquisition of Inclusive Energy (IE), a digital monitoring platform for solar and biogas systems, less than two weeks after securing $15 million to scale clean energy technology across Africa - Techpoint.africa.?
Banking & Telcom Activity
Airtel Africa and American Tower renew lease agreements
Airtel Africa has announced the renewal of its tower lease agreement with US-based international towerco American Tower Corporation (ACT) for a 12-year extension of approximately 7,100 sites across Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya and Niger.?The contract was signed on 30th September 2024 for a total lease valuation of US$1.2bn - Towerxchange.
ABSA closes $150 million finance facility with BII
Absa has successfully secured a $150 million facility from British International Investment (BII) plc as part of its mission to help close the trade finance gap in Africa. The deal was signed in Washington DC?On the sideline of the World Bank spring meeting - Technomoy.?
Nigerian Central Bank & IFC agree on a $1B Funding deal to manage currency risks?
Nigeria’s central bank and the IFC signed an agreement to facilitate local-currency financing, hoping to boost demand for naira while helping firms to avoid the?exchange-rate risk of borrowing in foreign currencies.?IFC plans to provide more than $1 billion in financing - Bloomberg.?
Startup Activity
Nigeria/USA - YC-backed Bamboo expands to Canada with remittance product
Bamboo, a Nigerian Investech startup that launched its services at AFTSDC19 in 2019 and a winner of AFTS 2023 Excellence in Fintech award under category of "Excellence in Investech", has now expanded to Canada with remittance product - Techcabal.?
2024 Startup Funding to Date - WeeTracker
Featured Read
The AWFR issue of October 20, 2024 reported that?Bank of Ghana's cCedi wins Innovation in Digital Currency Design Award?at a ceremony held in London for Ghana's e-cedi digital currency on account of the compelling demonstration of e-Cedi's design elements, encompassing governance, accessibility, interoperability and infrastructure. The Central Bank of? Ghana has issued a report outlining the e-CEDI CBDC project and read the full content -?A REPORT ON BANK OF GHANA’S CENTRAL BANK?DIGITAL CURRENCY PILOT PROJECT - THE eCEDI REPORT
AFTS Community in the News!
AFTS longtime partner and sponsor Paystack introduces Paystack Transfers
Paystack Transfers allows users to send money as easily as received and users can now transfer funds to any Kenyan bank account, M-PESA wallet, Paybill, or Till account, all from the same familiar Paystack Dashboard where users manage your transactions, read more HERE.?
AFTSNairobi24 VIP Dinner Sponsor & Speaker Circle Joins Hands with Thunes to Launch Stablecoin-powered Liquidity Management Solution
Thunes, the Smart Superhighway to move money around the world, has announced a strategic collaboration with Circle, a global digital financial technology firm and the issuer of stablecoins USDC and EURC through its regulated entities, to accelerate innovation in stablecoin liquidity management. ?The alliance empowers Members of Thunes’ Direct Global Network to fund and execute cross-border transactions using USDC, enabling faster transfers in mere seconds, seven days a week. The use of USDC settlements boosts liquidity and reduces capital costs for Thunes’ Members.
Save the Date!
Visualization of the Week
FT Partners have issued the Q3 2024 Fintech Insight report showcasing regional Fintech activty snapshots by region including Africa. We have selected the below snapshot by FT Partners as visualization for the week!?
Video of the Week!
Back in April 2022, Moniepoint Co-Founder & CEO Tosin was a fire-side chat keynote speaker outlining his vision of delivering financial happiness to the team and customers across the continent. Enjoy the fireside chat in this video of the week segment!?
Flashback from #AFTSNAIROBI24
Selected Pictures of AFTSNairobi24 that took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, on Sept 4-5, 2024!
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