Hi Fintech friends 👋,
Exciting news: Plaid has acquired This Week in Fintech! We’re thrilled to scale our insights together.
Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week:
Nigeria’s business banking giant just swallowed a restaurant tech rival and a bank.
Global mobile money transactions doubled to two trillion dollars since 2022.
A global stablecoin giant enters the Southern African market via Cassava.
Join an online community of TWIF Premium members and enjoy exclusive fintech conversations, private events, roundtable discussions, networking, job matching, and premium industry insight - all in one place.
💸 Fundraise and Exits
Littlefish (South Africa) raised $9.5M to scale its merchant operating system.
Happy Pay (South Africa) secured $5M to scale ad-supported BNPL models.
FirstRand upped its stake in Optasia in a deal worth $79M.
Moniepoint acquired restaurant management platform Orda in full-stack infrastructure bet.
Moniepoint secured a 78% stake in Kenya’s Sumac Microfinance Bank.
💰 Venture Funds
Funding in Kenya and Nigeria slumped as Benin joined the leaders.
🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches
Chikwama Pay and Paymentology launched a borderless WhatsApp-based digital banking platform.
M-PESA Ethiopia signed a deal to digitize regional tax collection services..
Scale and Mastercard partnered to simplify card issuance across five African markets.
IFC and Cashi partnered to expand digital payment infrastructure across Central Africa.
📰 News and Updates
Binance (Nigeria) pursued an out-of-court settlement for its two billion dollar tax case.
Ethiopia initiated a strategic overhaul to fix deep structural banking sector imbalances.
Global mobile money volumes doubled to two trillion dollars in four years.
Fifty digital currency firms explored setting up regional headquarters in Nairobi.
Lesotho introduced new restrictions on telecom credit services for minor mobile users.
👀 Eye Openers
The super app graveyard: Everything app doesn’t work in Africa.
📰 News of the Week
Kuda terminated hundreds of contracts during a major company restructuring.
Nigerian digital bank Kuda recently terminated hundreds of employee contracts during a company-wide restructuring. Leadership stated the move aligned with industry benchmarks to support future growth.
🪙 Stablecoin Watch
Kenya introduced draft rules raising capital requirements for all stablecoin issuers.
Quidax reduced its workforce while leaning into specialized business-to-business crypto products.
Circle and Cassava partnered to offer stablecoin transactions across African markets.
📑 Read of the week
Piggyvest’s 2025 Report: A comprehensive look at the savings and spending habits of Nigerians.
🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS
Tayo Oviosu on Leadership: Tayo Oviosu discussed lessons from being fired and Paga’s single-use app pivot. He shared how he turned his worst career moment into leadership success.
🦉 Tweet of the Week
Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚
👍🏽👎🏽 Did you enjoy this edition of This Week in Fintech Africa? Please reach me out on LinkedIn and X for feedback; Please consider sharing or subscribing if you enjoyed this.
