M-KOPA says its smartphone financing platform in Ghana is helping expand access to health insurance, digital services and income opportunities for low-income earners, with more than three-quarters of customers reporting an improved quality of life.

The company’s latest Ghana Impact Report showed that since entering the market in 2021, M-KOPA Ghana has extended more than $90 million in credit to over 550,000 customers through a network of more than 3,000 direct sales agents.

The report highlights how smartphone ownership is increasingly acting as a gateway to financial inclusion in Ghana, where affordability remains a major barrier. According to the GSMA, entry-level smartphones can cost as much as 95% of a low-income earner’s monthly wages in Sub-Saharan Africa, while roughly 76% of the region’s population still lacks smartphone access.

M-KOPA said 44% of customers accessed a product or service for the first time through its platform, while 36% of customers — and 41% of female users — said their M-KOPA device was their first smartphone.

The company’s “More than a Phone” platform, launched in January 2025, bundles smartphone financing with mobile data, device protection and health insurance. M-KOPA said the offering drove a fourfold increase in sales and supported its expansion across all 16 regions of Ghana.

A key component of the strategy is health insurance provided through a partnership with Turaco. The report found that 67% of customers accessed health insurance for the first time through the partnership, while 43% of female customers said health coverage influenced their decision to purchase an M-KOPA phone.

The company said 67% of insured customers now feel more confident managing healthcare costs.

M-KOPA also said smartphones are increasingly supporting livelihoods, with 55% of customers using their devices for income-generating activities and 54% reporting increased earnings after purchasing a smartphone.

The company is also targeting greater participation by women in the digital economy. Women currently account for 37% of newly acquired customers and 31% of the company’s sales agent workforce, up from 26% a year earlier.

To support female sales agents, the firm piloted stationary kiosks aimed at addressing safety concerns and providing more stable working environments. The company said 84% of agents reported higher earnings after joining M-KOPA, while 93% said their quality of life had improved.

“M-KOPA Ghana works to dismantle barriers to formal financial services, and this report shows what’s possible when Every Day Earners get access,” said Chioma D. Agogo, General Manager of M-KOPA Ghana.

The company said it contributed about $3.4 million in annual tax revenue in 2024 and spent more than $28 million on local procurement. The firm currently employs 254 people directly, 37% of whom are women, alongside its network of 3,000 sales agents.

Moniepoint Inc., an African fintech firm, has partnered with UK-based tell.money to introduce account name-checking for payments, as it deepens its expansion into Britain’s regulated financial market.

The agreement will see Moniepoint adopt the UK’s Confirmation of Payee (CoP) system, which verifies that a recipient’s name matches their bank account details before a transfer is completed. The requirement is a key safeguard against fraud and misdirected payments, and is increasingly mandatory for firms operating in the UK.

The service will be rolled out through Monieworld, Moniepoint’s remittance platform serving Africans in the diaspora, initially focused on Nigerian users in the UK. The platform enables transfers to Nigerian bank accounts through bank rails, cards and digital wallets.

The move underscores Moniepoint’s effort to align with UK compliance standards while scaling its cross-border payments offering in a competitive remittance market.

“Our goal is to make it easier for people to support families, invest back home and manage cross-border finances with confidence,” said Ravi Jakhodia, chief executive officer of Monieworld. He added that the partnership allows the company to meet regulatory requirements without adding operational complexity.

Tell.money will provide the infrastructure layer for the CoP service, including integration, accreditation and ongoing compliance monitoring.

Moniepoint joins a growing number of international fintech firms adopting CoP as UK regulators tighten oversight of payment security and consumer protection.

Founded in Nigeria, Moniepoint says it serves more than 20 million businesses and individuals and processes about $22 billion in monthly transaction volume across payments, banking and credit services.

The UK push reflects a broader trend of African fintechs targeting diaspora remittances, a high-volume corridor where reliability and compliance are increasingly critical differentiators.

Electric Transits Africa (ETA), a Dutch-Kenyan e-mobility company, has secured a €600,000 ($650,000) loan from Invest International to expand its electric vehicle leasing fleet and fast-charging network in Kenya, the company said on Tuesday.

The financing, provided through the Dutch Good Growth Fund (DGGF), will support the rollout of additional vehicles and public charging infrastructure as the firm scales operations across East Africa.

ETA, which launched its first vehicles and charging sites following an earlier funding round in May last year, is now serving commercial clients in sectors including tourism, logistics and security.

The company offers electric vehicles through an EV-as-a-Service model, bundling financing, maintenance, insurance and charging access into a single package aimed at lowering upfront costs for businesses transitioning from internal combustion engines.

“Electric mobility in Kenya has moved beyond the pilot phase and is now proving its economic viability,” co-founder Wout van Blommestein said, citing volatile fuel prices, urban air pollution and the country’s largely renewable power mix.

Co-founder Dennis Kant said the funding would help accelerate growth and position electric transport as a mainstream option for businesses. He added that the company aims to raise additional capital in the coming months.

Invest International said ETA’s model aligns with its focus on sustainable mobility and climate-oriented investments.

“ETA has a strong team, a solid group of investors and has already demonstrated promising traction in Kenya,” said Erik Pentinga, an investment manager at the Dutch firm.

Kenya has emerged as one of Africa’s early adopters of electric mobility, supported by a growing ecosystem of startups, policy incentives and relatively clean electricity generation.

ETA said it plans to expand its footprint across the region as demand for cost-efficient and low-emission transport solutions rises.

Riyadh-based fintech Stitch has raised $25 million in a Series A funding round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), marking the Silicon Valley firm’s first investment in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), the company said on Wednesday.

The round, which brings Stitch’s total funding to $35 million, also drew participation from existing investors Arbor Ventures, COTU Ventures, Raed Ventures and Saudi Venture Capital (SVC).

Stitch provides a cloud-native platform designed to serve as a unified infrastructure layer for financial institutions, spanning lending, cards, payments and ledger systems. The company aims to help banks and fintechs modernize legacy systems and enable faster adoption of artificial intelligence.

Financial institutions globally continue to rely on fragmented infrastructure despite heavy spending on digital transformation, creating a bottleneck for innovation, particularly in deploying AI capabilities, Stitch said.

“Financial institutions globally run on fragmented, legacy infrastructure that should have been left behind 20 years ago,” said founder and CEO Mohamed Oueida. “Now every institution wants to adopt AI, but AI on top of broken infrastructure is a dead end.”

The company reported that more than $5 billion has been processed on its platform over the past six months, with customer numbers growing tenfold in 2025 and revenue increasing twentyfold over the same period.

Stitch operates across the GCC, Africa — including Egypt and Kenya — and Southeast Asia. Its clients include Raya Financing, LuLu Exchange, Noqodi and Foodics.

Andreessen Horowitz said the investment reflects growing demand for modern financial infrastructure in emerging markets.

“Financial institutions are sitting on decades of infrastructure debt, and that debt is now the single biggest obstacle to AI adoption,” said Alex Rampell, general partner at a16z.

Stitch said it will use the proceeds to accelerate product development, expand across the GCC and wider Middle East and North Africa region, and grow its global go-to-market operations.

French development finance institution Proparco has invested $2 million in Guinea-founded fintech Cauridor as part of a broader Series A funding round aimed at scaling cross-border payment infrastructure across Africa.

The investment, announced during the Africa Forward Summit in Nairobi, brings Cauridor’s total funding to about $13 million and includes participation from investors Flourish Ventures and LoftyInc Capital.

Founded in 2022, Cauridor builds payment infrastructure that connects international money transfer operators such as Western Union, MoneyGram, RIA, Taptap Send and Sendwave to African last-mile payout networks, including mobile money operators, banks and cash agents.

The company focuses on improving the efficiency of remittance flows into Africa by addressing bottlenecks in last-mile distribution, a segment that has historically contributed to high transaction costs and delays.

Remittances are a key source of foreign inflows for many African economies, often supporting household consumption and financial stability.

Proparco said the investment aligns with its mandate to promote financial inclusion and digital infrastructure development in emerging markets. The funding is part of the EU-backed Choose Africa VC programme.

Cauridor said the capital will be used to expand its engineering, operations and commercial teams, and to accelerate its expansion across West and Central Africa as it works toward closing its Series A round by the end of 2026.

Jiji.ng, the Nigerian-based online marketplace, has announced its first acquisition outside Africa with the purchase of Bangladesh’s classifieds platform Bikroy. The move marks a significant milestone in the company’s strategy, signaling a broader shift among African tech startups toward global expansion.

According to CEO Anton Volianskyi, the acquisition was financed through internal resources. However, the financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Founded in 2014, Jiji has grown into one of Africa’s leading online classifieds platforms, operating across multiple countries and serving more than 90 million users. The company reportedly processes approximately $70 billion in annual gross merchandise value, positioning it as a major player in the continent’s digital commerce ecosystem.

Jiji has followed an aggressive expansion strategy, entering new markets, competing with existing platforms, and later consolidating its position through acquisitions. This approach has previously included the purchase of OLX’s African operations as well as Tonaton in Ghana.

The company entered Bangladesh in March 2025, targeting a fast-growing digital economy driven by a youthful population and rising internet penetration. With over 130 million internet users, Bangladesh presents a significant opportunity in e-commerce, although competition remains strong from local platforms and global players such as Temu.

Following the acquisition, Bikroy will retain its brand identity, while gradually integrating Jiji’s technology, tools, and operational systems. Jiji also plans to increase investment in marketing to accelerate growth in the market.

The deal underscores a broader trend of emerging market tech companies expanding beyond their home regions, leveraging proven business models to enter new and highly competitive international markets.

Africa-focused startups spanning fintech, mobility, healthtech, creator economy, climate tech, AI and travel infrastructure have been selected to pitch investors at the 10th edition of Africa Tech Summit London 2026, set for May 29 at the London Stock Exchange.

The summit, regarded as one of the leading African tech ecosystem gatherings in Europe, will bring together more than 350 founders, investors, corporates and policymakers to discuss investment, innovation and cross-border expansion opportunities across Africa’s startup ecosystem.

Organizers said the showcase attracted over 200 applications, underscoring the growing maturity and competitiveness of African startups seeking international capital and partnerships.

The 13 selected ventures reflect the continent’s widening innovation landscape, with Nigerian startups dominating the cohort.

Among the selected companies is Aktivate, which is building infrastructure for African creators to collaborate with brands, manage campaigns and receive cross-border payments. Also selected is Bunce, a startup helping businesses personalize customer engagement using data-driven tools.

Health financing startup 10mg Health was chosen for its embedded credit platform that allows clinics and pharmacies to purchase medicines using buy-now-pay-later financing powered by AI underwriting.

In mobility and energy, Orbit Electric is assembling IoT-enabled electric motorcycles in Lagos while offering pay-as-you-go financing for delivery riders, while Koolboks is expanding access to solar-powered refrigeration through flexible financing models aimed at reducing food spoilage for small businesses.

Travel startup Mowoki is building infrastructure for cross-border travel and curated African experiences, while Workspace Global Ltd provides subscription-based creative production services for businesses.

The fintech category featured strongly. Redbiller Technologies Inc. is building financial infrastructure for neobanks, fintechs and crypto exchanges, while UltraPay enables users to spend crypto, stocks and fiat currencies globally through a single payment card.

Meanwhile, Zynta is developing regulated stablecoin payment rails for businesses operating across African markets.

The showcase also includes enterprise and AI startups such as Scandium Systems, which develops AI-powered software testing tools, and ProDevs, focused on helping companies hire software engineers more efficiently.

Restaurant technology startup Reisty was also selected for its guest management platform aimed at improving customer experience and profitability for restaurants.

According to Marc Mugenwa, the evolution of the showcase mirrors the rapid growth of Africa’s startup ecosystem over the last decade.

“Ten years ago, Africa’s startup ecosystem was still finding its feet, with only a handful of investor-ready ventures getting global attention. The ecosystem is far more mature now, and the quality of ventures applying for the Investment Showcase continues to rise,” he said.

Over the past decade, Africa Tech Summit London says it has showcased more than 100 African startups to international investors and ecosystem stakeholders, helping founders secure partnerships, visibility and investment opportunities across global markets.

Saudi fintech startup Stream has secured a $5.2 million seed extension led by BECO Capital, bringing its total seed funding to $9.2 million as the company positions itself as a core financial infrastructure provider for businesses across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).

The round also drew participation from STV, Flourish Ventures, Arab Bank, alongside existing investors Outliers and BYLD.

Founded in 2024 in Riyadh, Stream is building infrastructure that combines billing, payments and post-payment operations into a unified platform aimed at helping businesses automate collections, reconciliation, subscriptions and reporting.

The company says the funding comes amid growing demand from businesses in MENA that are scaling rapidly but still rely on fragmented financial systems ill-equipped for modern revenue models such as subscriptions, installment plans and recurring payments.

“Billing is evolving faster than most businesses realise,” said Ibrahim Aldlaigan, founder and CEO of Stream. “As our region is realizing its potential, infrastructure needs are changing. Stream is focused on removing any friction that slows or blocks businesses from getting paid.”

Stream has been expanding its platform beyond basic payment processing into broader financial operations tooling. The startup recently launched subscription management APIs that allow businesses to build recurring billing models and introduced support for MCP (Model Context Protocol), which it describes as a step toward AI-native payments infrastructure.

The platform also integrates with Saudi Arabia’s tax authority system, ZATCA, helping businesses remain compliant with local invoicing and tax regulations.

According to the company, Stream initially gained traction in the education sector before expanding into SaaS and service-led businesses. It now processes millions of dollars in payments monthly and serves hundreds of businesses, including organizations such as Atyab and Riyadh Schools Group.

BECO Capital founder and managing partner Dany Farha said the investment thesis centered on Stream’s potential to create an entirely new category between payment processors and accounting software.

“Our conviction in Stream was rooted in backing a resourceful exceptional founder, Ibrahim, who has deep local payments expertise and sharp product vision,” Farha said.

The fundraising reflects increasing investor appetite for infrastructure-focused fintech startups in MENA, particularly as businesses across the region digitize operations and adopt more complex online revenue models.