Visa Selects 19 African Startups for Fintech Accelerator Program, New Report Shows Top Private Capital Destinations in Africa, and More
Africa Fintech Summit
The global initiative dedicated to building an ecosystem of investors, pioneers, industry leaders in African Fintech.
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Making the News!
South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana & Egypt attracted 85% of private capital in Q3 '24
Private capital investment in Africa,?a key driver of economic growth, is not evenly spread. In Q3 2024, five countries—South Africa, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, and Egypt— emerged as the primary hubs for private capital, according to a new Stears report . These ‘Big 5’ economies alone accounted for 85% of all private capital deals, highlighting their dominant role in shaping the region’s investment landscape.?Sector-wise, financial services led the pack, contributing 33% of all private capital deals. - TechCabal.
Jack Dorsey's Block introduces Bitkey to simplify inheritance distribution for Bitcoin users
As Bitcoin is nearing the landmark price of $100K, it is seen as a multi-generational asset and the need for secure and user-friendly solutions to ensure its legacy is more important than ever. Bitkey , the self-custody wallet built by Block, Inc. , the Fintech pioneer co-founded by AFTS Speaker and long-time Sponsor of African Students Jack Dorsey,?has introduced a new inheritance feature designed to address this challenge. Launching widely in January 2025, this feature provides a simple, secure way for customers to pass their bitcoin to loved ones without compromising self-custody - Forbes .?
Early-stage VC fund Launch Africa Ventures makes first exits
Africa's most active early-stage VC fund Launch Africa Ventures has begun making its first exits, while also confirming slight tweaks to its investment strategy as it begins deploying from its second fund.?Launched in July 2020 by Zachariah George and Janade du Plessis, with chairperson Margaret O’Connor also on the board, Launch Africa Ventures closed its inaugural fund, Launch Africa Ventures Fund 1, in March 2022 at US$36.3M?while making?133 investments via that fund.?Launch Africa has so far made three cash exits through secondaries, in addition to seven stock exits that it has had in the last year - Disrupt Africa.?
AI chipmaker Nvidia makes strides in Africa
Silicon Valley-based Nvidia , the second largest company by market capitalization, is increasing its partnerships with universities and innovation hubs across Africa with the aim of ensuring future African engineers and entrepreneurs become lifelong users of its product as it vies market dominance from?Chinese rival Huawei. NVIDIA supports developers in emerging markets to build and scale their AI projects, including?offering?educational resources for anyone who wants to learn about all things AI- The African Report .?
This is Africa’s digital decade, says Google’s Okosi
According to a recent study commissioned by Google and conducted by consultancy Public First, every dollar invested in digital technology in Africa will yield over two dollars for the region’s economy by 2030. This, Google says, highlights the massive multiplier effect of investments in Africa’s digital economy. In his interview with African Business, Alex Okosi, managing director for Google in Sub-Saharan Africa highlighted that 'Africa is a continent at work, with more people coming online every day (about 350 million, out of 1.2 billion people) using the internet to better their lives & the next decade is set to be Sub-Saharan Africa’s digital decade'. Read more at the African Business .??
Visualization of the Week
Africa offers the greatest fintech and technological innovation dreamland in the coming decades. This is not necessarily because of its status as the largest trading block on the planet with 1.4 Billion people or that around 350M people visit the internet per day currently, but also because the demographic changes show that Africa will be the youngest continent & will have the largest working age population globally by 2050. The infographic below from The?New York Times , shows this vividly. What does this mean for global fintechs, investors and conglomerates as they set their investment priorities now? Have your say!??
Merger & Acquisition Activity
PE Firm Harith buys African infrastructure fund for $360 million
South Africa - A group of investors led by South African private equity firm Harith General Partners agreed to buy out an infrastructure fund for $360 million. The deal provides an exit opportunity for investors in the first Pan African Infrastructure Development Fund, which includes the continent’s largest pension fund — South Africa’s Government Employees Pension Fund — along with Absa Bank Ltd., Old Mutual Ltd. and others - Bloomberg .?
Banking & Telcom Activity
TDB on landmark $394M?sustainability-linked Loan along With FMO to boost African agriculture?
TDB , Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank, and FMO , the Dutch entrepreneurial development Bank, announce the signing of a syndicated USD 394 million Sustainability-Linked Loan to ETC Group (ETG), a global conglomerate with a strong foothold in Africa and expertise across various industries. This significant financial commitment aims to support ETG’s working capital needs across Africa, reinforcing the company’s sustainability agenda and its pivotal role in the agricultural sector.
Nedbank plots expansion In Africa with $662 million war chest
Armed with a war chest of 12 billion rand ($662 million) in excess capital sitting on its books by the end of June, South Africa’s fourth-largest lender Nedbank Group Ltd . is setting out to reinvent itself across the African continent as it looks to reduce its dependence on South Africa and nearly quadruple its profit from other African markets over the next decade - Bloomberg .? ?
Startup Activity
Senegal's Solarbox Africa secures $1 million pre-seed funding to expand eMobility solutions?
Senegal -?Senegalese eMobility and energy startup Solarbox Africa announced the successful closure of a $1 million pre-seed funding round.?The round was spearheaded by notable early-stage investors, including Digital Energy Facility, Launch Africa, JLL Foundation, and Teranga Capital -?Empower Africa .
Insurtech startup Amenli raises $2.3m to accelerate growth
Egypt?- Insuretech Amenli has raised a US$2.3 million funding round aimed at accelerating its growth and enhancing its service offerings, with?a round led by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development Venture Capital arm (EBRD).?
Socium doubles down on Francophone Africa after $5M seed round
Senegal?- Socium, Senegal based?Demand for HR tech solutions that has built HR solutions that target users within the 21 countries of Francophone Africa has?raised $5 million seed funding to fuel its growth plans in the region - Techcrunch .?
AFTS Community Activity
Visa's Africa Fintech Accelerator program selects 19 startups
AFTSNairobi2024 Sponsor & Excellence in Fintech Award Recipient global payments giant Visa has announced the 19 African startups selected to participate in the third cohort of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator program.?Representing 21 African countries, the startups operate in various sectors, including embedded finance, digital banking and SME lending, and will get access to growth-enabling resources during the program. See the full list HERE .?
Yellow Card becomes Paypal's Xoom first disbursement partner?for Stablecoin PYUSD in Africa
PayPal has announced it will be enabling disbursement partners to use PayPal USD (PYUSD) to settle cross-border money transfers made with Xoom and AFTS's longtime partner and AE Pitch Competition participant?Yellow?Card will be one of the first Xoom disbursement partners to use PYUSD to settle cross-border money transfers, allowing them to leverage the cost and speed advantages of blockchain technology.?Yellow Card has also secured a Crypto Asset Service Provider Licence in South Africa.
Moniepoint receives Financially Inclusive Fintech of the Year award
?AFTS longtime sponsor & Speaker?Moniepoint has?received the Financially Inclusive Fintech of the Year award from the Central Bank of Nigeria at the 2nd International Financial Inclusion Conference. This award is a testament to Moniepoint's commitment to fostering financial inclusion in Africa by delivering innovative and accessible financial services and products.
2024 Startup Funding to Date - WeeTracker
Featured Read
Last month, AFTS issued an editorial highlighting the crucial tried & tested?use-case of stablecoins in Africa entitled Stablecoin is the future of Africa's Remittance & Trade with Rest of The World. The piece named Yellow Card as one of the startups shaping Africa's cross-border trade with stablecoin. Chris Maurice, Founder & CEO of Yellow Card has provided insights into Africa's cross-border and fintech space and how Yellow Card's stablecoin deployment is impacting the world's largest trading block, Africa. Enjoy the article by Bloomberg titled The US Stablecoin Startup Fueling a $3 Billion Boom in Africa .
Save the Date!
Video of the Week!
At AFTSNairobi2024, the panel entitled "Ecosystem & Human Capital Powering Fintech Innovation" brought subject matter experts to discuss Africa’s tech talent landscape and the critical role of homegrown talent in driving Africa's fintech innovation. The Panel was moderated by?Caleb Maru, Founder of Tech Safari and had panelists?Yordanos Asmare,??Head of Talent & Partnership at?Africa to Silicon Valley,?Olusola Amusan,?Co-Founder & CEO of Vesti,?Seye Dele,?Co-Founder & CEO of paidHR,?Roni Levy, Project?Manager at?Pears Program &?Alan Mwangi, Entrepreneurship?Development Manager at?ALX. Enjoy the video!
Flashback from #AFTSNairobi2024
#AFTSNAIROBI24 Partners & Sponsors
Great summary! Exciting to see the growth and innovation happening across Africa's fintech ecosystem.