African Unicorns Financing Growth & Trajectory
Hi Fintech friends 👋,
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;
Newest African Unicorn pushed for commercial banking license.
Egypt based Vehicle payments gateway secured investment and venture support.
A $270 Million Europe based growth debt fund opened an Africa franchise.
Nigerian digital bank resumed card issuance after a six month pause.
African founders shared their mental wellbeing status.
If you were at TWIF Cape Town fintech happy hour sponsored by Deimos Cloud last friday, the photos are out.
💸Fundraise and Exits
Egyptian vehicle payments gateway TafweelabecameT-Vencubator’s first investment and venture-building project.
Top 20 Best Fintech companies in Egypt
💰 Venture Funds
$270 Million growth debt fund Bootstrap Europe opened Africa franchise.
Debt providers financing Africa’s ventures
East Africa startup funding declined, dropping to $196 million in 2024 from $480 million in 2023.
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Nigerian digital bank Carbonresumed card issuance after a six-month pause.
Selected charges for banks in Nigeria
Accrueannounced that it will discontinue its stock investment offerings by the end of 2024.
Stock trading platforms have proliferated across Africa
But can wealth management apps thrive where wealth is scarce?
Continued consolidation in the sector should probably be expected pic.twitter.com/BNLmEWbkX1— Emeka Ajene ✍🏽 (@eajene) September 12, 2024
👔 Leadership Lineup
African founders said their jobs have impacted their mental wellbeing.
The biggest stress factors are external
📰 News of the Week
Moniepointaimed to acquire a commercial bank license.
Moniepoint by numbers
Moniepoint, the Nigerian fintech unicorn that raised $110 Million a few weeks ago, is working to secure a commercial banking license in Nigeria that will make it the first Nigerian fintech to own a commercial banking license that requires $30 million capital.
The fintech began preparing for the license in the first quarter of 2024, shortly after hiring Bayo Olujobi as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO) from Stanbic IBTC.
👀 Eye Openers
“In October 2024 alone, PoS agents process 493k transactions worth ₦30.7 trillion($18.3 Billion). For perspective, that's only ₦1.9 trillion($1.1 Billion) less in value than all ATMs combined did in the whole of 2022” - Muyiwa
POS transaction value in Nigeria
POS Agents Aren't Going Anywhere, why? 👇🏿
ATMs, which are agent’s alternatives, are unreliable.
ATMs are expensive, have high maintenance cost and banks are no longer thrilled with them.
ATMs have cash withdrawal limits and other restrictions.
POS agents make it easy to cash in high amount deposits than ATMs.
📑 Read of the week
📖 Other News, Reads, and Media
Nigeria's headline inflation quickened to 33.8% in October.
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Interview with Jacques Marco, the founder and CEO of Axis. The company raised a $8 Million seed round and is now one of Egypt's fastest-growing fintechs.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
1/ Selling to banks is no walk in the park. Many vendors set out optimistically but end up on the long list of failed attempts. Why? They underestimate the complexity of banking’s external pressures and internal dynamics. 🏦 A 🧵 based on my experience pic.twitter.com/kUClJZ5lmq— Samora Kariuki (@SamoraKariuki) November 18, 2024
🎯 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 💚
