Hi Fintech friends 👋, 

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

  • Four Fintech deals were announced including Two exits.

  • A $1 Billion fund was launched to invest in 1000 African startups.

  • Founder of Two African Unicorns launched a Y-Combinator for Africa.

  • 2 Global companies invested $1 Billion to build payment solutions for African SMEs.

  • African Neobank became profitable.

  • A Nigerian Fintech startup lost $31,000 to internal fraud.

💸 Fundraise and Exits

  • Canza Finance raised $2.3 Million to enable cross-border payments for African startups.

  • Egyptian fintech startup, Zealraised $4 Million to expand in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

  • Ukheshe, a South African fintech company acquired the entire stake in EFT Corporation .

  • Access Bank acquired majority stake in Finance Trust Bank in Uganda.

💰 Venture Funds

  • UNDP and Partners Launched $1 Billion to Invest in 1000 African Tech Startups.

  • Seedstarsreceived $10.5 million from AfDB one week after a $30m commitment from EIB Global.

  • Backed by a $750k grant, Aboyeji and Koschitzky-Kimani launched the Y-Combinator of Africa.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

  • Access Bankgot approval for a standalone lending company.

  • Vodafone and Microsoftpartnered in $1.5 Billion Agreement to build Digital Payment Solutions for SMEs in Africa.

  • Paystacklaunched a feature that allows merchants in Ghana to send funds via Transfer to any local bank.

  • Ghana Interbank Payment and Settlement Systems (GhIPSS) partnered with Visa to expand its payment services.

  • Safaricom and Sumitomolaunched Spark Accelerator for Kenyan startups.

📰 News of the Week

Having raised over $260 Million in funding since inception and claimed to be recording a revenue run rate of over $100 million annually, six months later after posting a $45 million loss, TymeBank reported a profit. Launched in February 2019, TymeBank claimed to be the first digital bank on the continent to become profitable, driven by the 8.5 million customers it has. TymeBank attributed its shift to profitability to strategic partnerships with Pick n Pay, Boxer, TFG, and ZCC, a 30% YoY growth in its lending portfolio, integrated digital and in-store channels for customer acquisition, and support from venture capital backers.

“We are extremely proud of our achievement, particularly when you consider that globally, less than half of the top 100 digital banks are profitable,” said Coenraad Jonker, CEO of TymeBank.

📑 Read of the week

  • Are African Remittances Finished? (Benjamin Fernandes)

  • How a clash of visions led to Olu Akanmu’s exit from Opay (Techcabal)

  • Homegrown African VCs emerged to fill in the gaps foreign investors cannot (Techcrunch)

  • The Top Nigerian Fintech Products According to The Nigerian Tech Ecosystem Movie (Fintechnews)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

  • Nigerian fintech, Kippalost $31,000  to internal fraud.

  • Nigerian fintech startup, GladeFinancewas in talks to be acquired.

  • Egyptian banks imposed card limits for travelers due to forex challenges.

  • Patricia planned to repay customers in 2 to 5 years for "expectation management purposes".

  • Helicarriershut its professional crypto trading platform Buycoins Pro .

  • African neobank Kudatried to raise $20M at flat valuation in 2023, missed user milestone projection by 3 Million.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

  • Interview with Natalie Kolbe, Ngetha Waithaka and Lexi Novitske - Partners of the $205 million growth fund Norrsken22.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

❝

Nigeria is one of Africa's fintech hubs

But acceptance of digital payments outside of the country's urban areas is limited

And challenges in conducting everyday transactions without cash remain — even in cities

Here's a look at the hardest services to pay for digitally in 🇳🇬 pic.twitter.com/vZzlMAaMDk— Emeka Ajene ✍🏽 (@eajene) January 15, 2024

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

❝

💡 Do you know an early stage founder (pre-revenue) ideating in fintech, healthtech, Agritech or sectors with an embedded finance play? We also want to know about founders at idea stage who need help with validations, funding and GTM.

Tag them below or send @yunuz__ a DM 🤝 https://t.co/RdD3NGr2Za— Founders Factory Africa (@FoundersFFA) January 17, 2024

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 .

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