South African Fintech Lesaka Tech Completes $96M Acquisition of Adumo, TymeBank Surpasses 10M Customers, Nigeria's Winich Farms Raises $3M, and More

What's inside? ?

• Visa & Mastercard intensify technology services acquisitions
• Visa unveils new Tokenized Asset Platform on Ethereum
• Tymebank reaches 10 million customers in Africa
• Africa's creative industry gets investment boost
• Stablecoin's key use cases in Africa include B2B cross-border payments, remittances, and store of value

AND MORE!

Making the News?

Africa's 'phygital' banking success story TymeBank reaches 10M?customers in Africa

Tymebank, South Africa's digital-first banking startup that became profitable this year has hit a new milestone with 10 million customers in Africa, while its global customer base hovering around 14 million - Tech Financials.

Visa to help banks issue fiat-backed tokens on Ethereum via new tokenized asset platform?

AFTSNairobi24 Sponsor and partner Visa?has developed a new product to help banks issue fiat-backed tokens on the Ethereum network.?One of the first financial institutions to use the platform will be Spanish bank BBVA, who expects to launch a live pilot in 2025.?

Global fintech giants Visa & Mastercard expanding to technology services with fraud detection & embedded fintech acquisitions??

The consolidations of fraud prevention & embedded payment services is intensifying with Visa?announcing its signing of a definitive agreement to acquire Featurespace, a developer of real-time artificial intelligence (AI) payments protection technology that prevents and mitigates payments fraud and financial crime risks while Mastercard?announcing its acquisition of Minna Technologies, a subscription management software startup based in Sweden - CNBC.?

East Africa's climate finance solution gets a boost with new investment?

Dhamana, an East African focused credit guarantee company based in Kenya, signed partnership aiming at boosting climate finance solutions in East Africa by issuing guarantees to commercially viable projects, businesses, and institutions. The design and creation of the company was supported by the UK-Government backed investor the Private Infrastructure Development Group (PIDG) through InfraCo Africa. with further equity investment from the African Development Bank (AfDB) and CPF Group, as well as support provided by Cardano Development and FSD Africa?- InfraCo Africa.?

A $17M “Seed Fund of Funds"?is set up to back tech startups in South Africa??

A consortium of leading institutions, including the SA SME Fund, the Department of Science and Innovation (DSI), the Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), and E Squared Investments, has launched a R300 million (approximately $17 million) seed fund aimed at supporting tech startups in South Africa - Empower Africa.

Banking & Telecom Activity?

Egypt - The Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) is set?to launch Africa's first Sovereign Investment Guarantee Agency with $50 million capital aimed at boosting investments across the African continent. Read more HERE.?

Nigeria - The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria,?Olayemi?Cardoso, has called on the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) to adapt their approaches to better address the distinct financial challenges faced by African nations - Fintech Magazine Africa.?

Startup Activity?

Nigeria -?AMAKA Studio secures $2 million seed funding to revolutionize the creator economy.?This round was led by Equitane (formerly Africa Transformation and Industrialization Fund: ATIF), alongside key partners such as Morgan Stanley Inclusive Ventures Lab, Silverbacks Holdings, and a group of angel investors.

South Africa - Scale secures $700,000 in pre-seed funding to simplify card issuing and payments in Africa, a round?led by 54 Collective and First Circle Capital. Read more HERE.?

South Africa - TUNL, South Africa’s shipping platform for e-commerce exporters,?has concluded a priced seed round led by E4E Africa?to drive e-commerce exports surge from South Africa. Read more HERE.

Nigeria -? Winich Farms, Nigerian AgriTech startup, raises $3 million pre-series A funding?led by Acumen Resilient Agriculture Fund (ARAF), which contributed $2.5 million - TechCabal.? ?

Nigeria - Itana,?Nigeria’s first licensed digital economic zone management company, and Africa Finance Corporation (AFC), the continent’s leading infrastructure solutions provider, have agreed to jointly develop the first digital economic zone in Africa. Read more HERE. ?

Ethiopia - Social buying platform ChipChip secures €250k in grant from the?2024 Kofi Annan Award for innovation in Africa.?Kenyan startups?Amini?and Fresh Networks?were 2nd and 3rd, respectively.?

Kenya -?SunCulture, a climate tech startup has raised an additional $2.5 million in investments to empowering smallholder farmers through innovative solar irrigation solutions. ?

South Africa -?Littlefish, a South African fintech startup on a mission to reconnect banks with Africa’s small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has closed its seed investment round led?by TLcom Capital, with Flourish Ventures as a co-investor? - Techpoint Africa.?

Merger & Acquisition Activity

• South Africa - Nasdaq-listed fintech Lesaka Technologies has completed the acquisition of fintech company Adumo for $96 million. In the cash and stock deal, Lesaka paid ?$13 million in cash - Techcabal.?

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Featured Read

Next Narrative Africa Fund raises $40m investment, aims to empower storytellers

Next Narrative Africa, founded by AFTSCairo21 keynote speaker Akunna Cook, has unveiled a $40M Africa Fund during UNGA79 week in NY aimed at spurring Africa's creative industry along with Kenya-based HEVA Fund.?The fund is backed by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and USAID’s Prosper Africa. Read more HERE.?

2024 Startup Funding to Date - WeeTracker

AFTS community in the news ?

AFTSNairobi2024 sponsor enza rolls out thought leadership resource on how Africa's banks can leverage their advantage today

Africa's banks have seen their relevance levels challenged over the last decade by agile and disruptive fintech companies. However, banks have some advantages that can help them fight back as long as they act now. enza, a leading payments infrastructure provider, explores these advantages in a new thought leadership piece. Get it here.

AFTS longtime partner and sponsor Network International's CEO believes going digital is Africa’s path to growth and prosperity

Watch his interview with Africa Business.?

AFTS past sponsors and partners?Chipper Cash & MoneyGram join?hands with Stellar for real-time cash-in and cash-out services

The partnership enables Chipper Cash customers to?now access real-time cash-in and cash-out services using MoneyGram agents, powered by the Stellar blockchain network. This strategic integration marks a new phase of financial inclusion and accessibility - Fintech Magazine Africa.?

AFTS partner and sponsor 54 Collective VC joins 2X Global, the leading organization unlocking gender-smart capital at scale

As part of the gender strategy, 54 Collective will provide $150k in additional non-dilutive capital at a 2.5% interest rate for women founders, advocate for a gender lens in product and service design using the 2X criteria and creates?a dynamic, inclusive ecosystem for early-stage teams. Read more HERE.

AFTS past sponsor?Mastercard partners with Amazon Payment Services to enable digital payment acceptance across the Middle East and Africa

The payment service provider will adopt the Mastercard Gateway to support fast, seamless, and secure transactions across the region including?Egypt and South Africa.?The two partners will also co-create innovative multi-rail payment solutions for customers. Read more HERE.?

AFTSNairobi2024 keynote speaker and panelist Miriam, Kiwan, VP of EMEA at Circle, writes post-summit on "Unlocking Africa's Potential with Blockchain and Stablecoins"

The article highlights B2B cross-border payment, remittances, and store of value as key use cases of stablecoins in Africa. Get the full details HERE.?

AFTS attends DC Fintech Summit co-organized by AFTSDC2024 sponsor and partner DISB and DC Venture Coalition

AFTS Co-Founder Zekarias represented AFTS and rallied the DMV Fintech ecosystem for the 13th AFTS that will take place in Washington DC on the 24th April 2025. Read more HERE.?

Video of the Week

Keynote by Esther Waititu,?Chief Financial Officer, Safaricom PLC, at the 12th Africa Fintech Summit in Nairobi, Kenya, Sept 05, 2024

Highlights from #AFTSNairobi2024

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