Hi Fintech friends 👋,

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

• One of the world’s biggest payment companies entered Africa with a $100 million commitment.
• Mastercard invested in an African digital identity verification provider.
• A 16-year-old Nigerian fintech expanded into the U.S. market with digital banking for Africa’s diaspora.
• The co-founder of one of Africa’s biggest VCs departed after 14 years of investing in fintechs like FairMoney, HoneyCoin, and Pula.
• Kenya’s BNPL startup targeted $340 million in revenue.

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This Week in FintechSabrina Baxter

💸Fundraise and Exits

• South African startup Contactable raised $13.5 Million to scale its identity verification, fraud reduction and compliance platform.

💰 Venture Funds

• PayPal committed $100 Million to MENA and Africa via Paypal Ventures.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Pesalink and Nairobi-based fintech TendePay teamed up to make bulk and single payments faster.
• Penne pivoted from lending to build the rails for lending in Nigeria.
• Nigerian fintech Paga expanded into the US market with digital banking for Africa’s diaspora.
• Pesapal partnered with Pezesha to launch a credit facility for Ugandan Merchants.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• Ido Sum departed TLcom Capital after 14 years of investing in Fintechs like Fairmoney, HoneyCoin and Pula.

📰 News of the Week

• Mastercard invested in African Fintech Smile ID.

African digital identity verification provider Smile ID secured a minority investment from Mastercard while also expanding its strategic partnership with the global payments giant to scale its anti-fraud technology across the continent.

👀 Eye Openers

• From Africa to the World;

📑 Read of the week

• Inside the failed courtship between Kenya BNLP startup Lipa Later and Nigeria’s Klump. (Techcabal)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Kenya’s Watu targeted $340 million revenue in 2025.
• The Bank of Ghana rolled out licensing rules for digital lenders.

🪙 Stablecoin Watch

News;

• Freedom Pay and SFXmoneyapp secured funding from Stellar Community Fund to scale Stablecoin powered cross border payments.
• Regulators said it is risky for Nigerians to invest with local stablecoins.

Insights & Resources;

• Just Like M-pesa, Stablecoins' Real Value Isn't Speed or Cost—It's Open Access. (By Cofounders Notebook)

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Interview with Iyin Aboyeji who co-founded two Unicorns, on the Cheat Code to Finding World-Class CoFounders.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

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