Micro-lending app Branch has raised $2m (ksh 200m) to bolster its loans to SMEs in Kenya and across the east African region as its loan book hits Ksh 4 billion and demand for loans skyrockets while supply shrinks. The credit was arranged…
Tulaa, is a new mobile commerce business set to enable farmers to access inputs, finance, information and markets in a virtual marketplace. The platform is incubated by Ghana’s Esoko in a move to enable farmers to save and borrow to purchase…
Société Générale has announced the launch of YUP, a mobile money solution that provides access to financial services even without having a bank account. Deployed in Côte d’Ivoire and Senegal, YUP already has more than 30,000 open wallets and nearly 600 agents. YUP…
Paga, one of the early payment platforms in Nigeria, has announced it is now fully integrated into Nigeria’s Banking System. This is according to Tayo Oviosu, the CEO and founder of Paga. Explaining Paga’s mode of operation before the integration, Oviosu said that…
United Bank of Africa Group, (UBA) is going above and beyond the legacy banking systems to omni channel marketing and social media lead generation, meeting its customers where they are – on websites, email, social networks, and cross-device platforms. UBA Group is…
Pineapple, a peer-to-peer insurance tech startup based in Johannesburg, South Africa has secured seed funding of R5.2m from Lireas Holdings, the strategic investment arm of Hannover-Re Group Africa, in return for a minority shareholding in a move set to bring their innovative insurance…
Fintechs and Energy startups in Francophone African countries can now apply for the Bridge Africa Accelerator Program. The Program which is an initiative of JokkoLabs with the support of Société Générale and in partnership with GreenTec Capital Partners is an open innovation program that accelerates projects…
Hey, I was doing a bit of thinking and I came up with this. Are we truly approaching a period in Nigeria when we might not need the services of most conventional commercial banks? Emphasis on “conventional”. Of course, FinTech startups could…
Over 2.5 billion of the world’s adults remain unbanked and have no access to formal banking or semiformal microfinance institutions according to a report by McKinsey. The report adds that nearly 2.2 billion of these unserved adults live in Africa, Asia, Latin…
Students continue to struggle to find the funds needed to finance their education as banks and traditional financiers are often unable to lend internationally; they cannot easily assess foreign risk nor enforce loan repayment across borders. With operations in London, New York…
The University of Cape Town (UCT) has become the first university in Africa to offer a degree in Fintech, allowing students to develop the requisite skills and knowledge needed to embrace technological advancements in the financial services sector. According to Business Insider, the…
Barely a month after it launched its operations in Kenya, Belfrics Global is taking another bold step in the right direction. The company will be launching the Belrium ICO (Initial Coin Offering) which will allow anyone to become an early blockchain investor….
With global organizations such as Dell, Microsoft, Expedia accepting bitcoin and other blockchain-based cryptocurrencies such Ethereum, ZCash among others, trade and mining of cryptocurrencies is becoming an everyday activity around the world. However, in Africa digital mining of cryptocurrencies is not a…
Oxford University’s Saïd Business School and South African e-learning company GetSmarter have launched an online FinTech programme to help meet the challenges of a rapidly changing financial services industry. The new digital open enrollment programme on financial technology and innovation was lanched…
PayU Nigeria introduces PayU Subscription, a convenient payment method which allows merchants to safely and securely collect payments from consumers who have recurring bills or subscription payments in a seamless way. According to Country Manager of PayU Nigeria, Ms Juliet Nwanguma said:…
Nigeria’s SystemSpecs has launched the full version of its Remita Mobile Application, for both Android and Apple phone users. The innovative payment solution according to the firm is aimed at “helping individuals to access all their bank balances on one screen, conveniently make…
Fenix International, a venture-backed pay-to-own home solar system technology and and financial services firm has raised funds from MTN, the Swedish Embassy in Zambia and USAID to launch pay-to-own solar home systems in Zambia. The funding together with MTN’s distribution networks will…
Headquartered in Singapore, Malaysia, with operational offices in India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, China and Dubai, Belfrics Global has launched its Bitcoin Exchange in Kenya to allow traders and Bitcoin users to trade more efficiently and at a much lower cost. The cost…
Nigeria’s Flutterwave, which provides modern payments infrastructure for banks and businesses to make and accept payments across Africa, announced that it has raised over $10 million in a Series A round of funding. The round was led by Greycroft Partners and Green Visor…
Howard Miller and Grace Njoroge dig deeper into the idea of innovation and what it means for the Mastercard Foundation Fund for Rural Prosperity. It is clear that technology is changing the landscape of financial services in rural Africa. From the largest…
Total and Worldline have signed binding technological, commercial and financing agreements with African fintech InTouch . Under the agreements, Total and Worldline will support the deployment of the Guichet Unique solution in eight African countries — Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Kenya, Mali, Morocco, the Republic of…
By Jim Savage, Data Science Lead at Lendable Inc. Securing debt financing to grow a medium-sized lending business in East Africa is not easy or cheap. Interest rates are high—often north of 25% a year in local currency terms—deals take a long…
WorldRemit is partnering with leading mobile money operators to increase mobile to mobile remittances and unlock the millions lost in sending money to Tanzania from around the world in a move expected expected to cut the overall costs of remittances for both…
Kenya’s mobile money integrator for merchants Tangazoletu has marked ten years of its existence with an ambitious target to bring ten million unbanked Kenyans in the informal sector through financial technology solutions. According to Chief Executive Officer of Tangazoletu Mr.Chris Gathingu the…
Mobisol has raised 10 million Euros from Finnfund (Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation Ltd.) to bolster its operations in Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya. The funds will support Mobisol’s fast expansion in East Africa, where the company installed nearly 10 megawatts of capacity…
Visa is partnering Interswitch and everyone else in the payments sector to double up the uptake of its mVisa, a mobile payments solution that allows consumers to pay for goods from any type of phone by either scanning a QR code, or…
Sage, the market, and technology leader for integrated accounting, payroll & HR, and payment systems, today announced that Sage One Payroll and Sage One Invoicing is available in Nigeria. Designed to help small businesses focus on what really matters, these software solutions give business builders the…
Amsterdam-based SheFarms is raising $8.2K to supply 120 female farmers in Ghana with smartphones to open up more local and international markets for their products as majority of other businesses go digital. Founded by Tiambi Simms and Margot Barreveld, SheFarms has already raised €2,200…
Swedish crowd-investment platform for profitable solar energy projects TRINE has raised 6 million EUR in Series A funding to scale its operations in East Africa and Europe and expand the crowd-investing platform’s funding capacity to reach more people. The funding round was…
Startupbootcamp Cape Town is issuing a final call for applications with the deadline for online applications is 9 July 2017. From a pool of hundreds of applicants, the 10 most promising teams will be selected and provided with EUR 15,000, 100+ highly…
