Hi Fintech friends 👋,

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

• Francophone Unicorn Mobile Money Fintech secured banking license.
• The most Active Fintech country in Africa considered establishing a single authority that would licence and regulate all fintechs in the country.
• Kenya’s largest commercial bank by assets invested in a POS based Fintech. 
• South Africa’s Unicorn named a new CEO to drive its rebranding and expansion in 2026.
•  Africa’s most valued Fintech expanded in Stablecoin payments.

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This Week in FintechSabrina Baxter

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Saudi startup Stream raised $4 million to fix payments for MENA businesses.

💰 Venture Funds

• The Era of Easy Money Ended: African Tech Faced a Brutal Reckoning.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Nigeria considered establishing the Nigerian Fintech Regulatory Commission (NFRC), a single authority that would licence and regulate all fintechs in the country.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• Carta hired Raise’s founder and set out to fix Africa’s private capital infrastructure.
• TymeBank named a new CEO to drive its rebranding and expansion in 2026.

📰 News of the Week

• Kenya’s largest commercial bank by assets KCB Group acquired a minority stake in Fintech company Pesapal.

Seven months ago KCB invested $15.4 Million to acquire a 75% stake in Riverbank Solutions, a Nairobi-based digital payments company.

The Kenya’s largest commercial bank by assets invested in PesaPal and said  “The investment sets the stage for the development of innovative payment and other related solutions for Kenya’s small and micro enterprises, enhancing value for shareholders of both Pesapal and KCB".

👀 Eye Openers

• Wave, a Francophone Africa’s first unicorn, once known for mobile money, just secured a banking license and invested $35 Million into it. Should we be getting ready to see M-Pesa and others make the same move?

📑 Read of the week

• Permissionless Building in Fintech. (Abdul, CEO at Mono)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Access Holdings’s fintech subsidiary, Hydrogen, grew its profit by 305.88% in the first half of 2025.

🪙 Stablecoin Watch

News;

• Flutterwave partnered with Polygon blockchain to power stablecoin cross-border payments.
• The stablecoin Fintech Yellow Card discontinued retail services to focus on businesses.

Insights & Resources;

• Beyond The Dollar The Role Of Stablecoins In Africa. (Stabull)

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• From Losing $1.5 Million Overnight To Raising Millions. The Brutal Reality Of Fundraising With Chika & Eche, Co-founders of Afropolitan.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

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