Hi Fintech friends 👋,

Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;

• The African asset financing startup said it is on its way to achieving a $400 million ARR on its platform.
• The Payaza Fintech offered grant funding to three African Fintechs.
• Global VC with African portfolio closed $1.15 Billion in Fund IV.
• Owner of Africa’s biggest Mobile Money received licence to launch a second money market fund.
• Nigerian Fintech paused its card services following issues with the card provider.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Voice-controlled bank app, Smart PoS, and AI-powered lending platform won $9,500 at Payaza hackathon 3.0.

💰 Venture Funds

• LeapFrog Investments closed $1.15 Billion in Fund IV.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Paystack integrated a payment option enabling merchants to accept payments directly from millions of OPay accounts.

• Safaricom received regulatory approval to launch a second money market fund, Ziidi.
• Bitmama paused virtual MasterCard services following issues with the card provider.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• PalmPay hired an ex-Opay and Moni executive to lead marketing in Nigeria.

📰 News of the Week

• Inside M-kopa’s $400 Million ARR.

M-KOPA, the pay-as-you-go asset financing platform serving 5 million underbanked Africans, is racing toward a major milestone: surpassing an annual revenue rate of $400 million by year-end. The Fintech might this milestone through the strength of a 30,000-strong team of direct salespeople.

The London-headquartered fintech ended last year with 4 million customers and $248 million in ARR, making this jump particularly notable given the harsh economic backdrop.The 13-year-old company offers smartphones and other “productive assets” through flexible digital micropayments, where users pay daily based on the whole cost of the item divided up by 365 days.

👀 Eye Openers

Can someone convince more Tanzanians to use their cards on POS terminals?

• More than 12 million cards have been issued. But a closer look reveals a startling fact — only 2 million of these cards are actively in use. To add to the mystery, 96% of all card transactions happen at ATMs, not at point-of-sale (POS) terminals or for online purchases. The source of data used is primarily the central bank annual payments report for the full year 2023.

Can someone convince more Tanzanians to use their cards on POS terminals? Tell us what do you think  in the comments, and we will publish your thoughts in our next newsletter.

📑 Read of the week

• Verve cards are now accepted on AliExpress. But their issuing business tells a sweeter story. (Thecondia)
• Lending and Technology Opportunities in Trade and Supply Chain Finance.(Frontier Fintech)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Nigerian banks terminated 49 staff over fraud in Q2 2024.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Moniepoint & Piggyvest Investor Reveals Why VCs and Angel Investors Say No to Founders.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• Post revenue African startups in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are invited to apply for EUR 100,000 in non-dilutive funding and technical assistance.

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

👍🏽👎🏽  Did you enjoy this edition of This Week In Fintech Africa? Please share your feedback with me on Twitter or LinkedIn .