Key developments in the Egyptian startup ecosystem have led to a renewed appetite for growth in the space, and for its fintech startups in Egypt as well. Much of this activity is attributed to a slew of policy level shifts. For instance, a new Egyptian Central Bank Law put in place last year addressed the regulation of a number of fintech sectors for the first time. These include cashless payments, digital banks, and cryptocurrency. More recently, the Egyptian cabinet recently approved a draft bill allowing the country’s Financial Regulatory Authority to license non-banking financial companies and fintech startups in Egypt.…

Ethiopia-based Dashen Bank has partnered with Singapore-headquartered cross-border payments platform Thunes to increase the ease of sending international payments to Ethiopia. Dashen Bank will leverage Thunes’ network of payment partners, which operates across more than 100 countries, to offer instant and affordable cross-border payment services, the press release said. Previously, sending cross-border payments to Ethiopia was a slow, unreliable, and expensive process. This partnership will enable Dashen Bank customers to transfer money to Ethiopia from across the world directly to their bank accounts and Dashen’s Amole wallets. The cross-border payment solution is expected to improve financial participation in Ethiopia as…

Tanzania-based Cellulant Corporation has received approval to operate as a Payment Solution Service Provider (PSSP) from the Bank of Tanzania. This would place Cellulant amongst the top five PSSP players offering digital payments solutions to be endorsed by the Bank of Tanzania, the company said in a statement. It would also give Cellulant access to a network of banks, merchants, payment processors, state governments, and consumers, whose digital payment requests are routed via PSSP e-payment infrastructure. According to Edwin Kiiru, Country Manager for Cellulant Tanzania, the approval will help the company scale its payments solutions across the country. Cellulant is…

FairMoney, a Nigerian neobank with a credit-led model, announced that it had raised US$42 million in a Series B funding round. The round was led by Tiger Global Management and other existing investors in previous rounds such as Newfund, Speedinvest, Flourish Ventures, and DST Partners. The firm had recently received a microfinance bank license from the Central Bank of Nigeria to further its banking ambitions. According to TechCrunch, FairMoney has disbursed over US$93 million in loans to its 1.3 million users who have made over 6.5 million loan applications. Meanwhile in India it had processed more than 500,000 loan applications…

Ghana International Bank (GHIB), a UK-headquartered pan-African bank, announced that it has partnered with engagement banking technology provider Backbase. The partnership will underpin the bank’s digital transformation, accelerate innovation and, by allowing GHIB to create tailor-made solutions, provide an enhanced, seamless experience for the bank’s customers. With modern, cloud-native architecture that can support banks of any size, Backbase will act as the core strategic partner for GHIB’s digital transformation. The partnership will see GHIB adopt Backbase’s engagement banking platform to orchestrate customer engagement across the bank’s full range of channels. Via the platform, GHIB is set to leverage Backbase’s digital…

Ghanaian digital wallet Zeepay announced completion of a US$ 7.9 million Series A funding that is a hybrid of both equity and balance sheet funds to support its operations. The fundraise was led by I&P, an impact investing group with over US$ 250 million in assets under management in the amount of US$ 3 million, and supported by ARK Holdings, a privately held family investment portfolio on behalf of Andrew Takyi-Appiah (Managing Director) and Zoe Takyi-Appiah in the amount of US$ 800,000. GOODsoil VC, an African-focused early-stage venture capital firm committed a follow-on investment to the tune of US$ 800,000…

Cameroon’s nascent fintech industry is gaining traction this year, a trend reflected by rising digital financial services adoption, considerable funding going towards paytech startups, and several product announcements. Maviance, the owner of digital payment platform for merchants Smobilpay, raised a US$3 million seed round from pan-African fintech MFS Africa, Business in Cameroon reported in May. The investment will help fund Maviance’s expansion across the broader Economic and Monetary Community of Central African States (CEMAC) and extend its footprint. The company claims it serves over 500,000 unique customers monthly. MFS Africa, headquartered in South Africa, runs the largest digital payment hub…

AAR Insurance has inked a deal with telecommunications provider Safaricom to roll out new technology infrastructure based on the Amazon Web Services (AWS) as part of its goal to be a full digital insurance company. The medical underwriter has begun migrating its digital tools and core systems to the AWS platform in a move that will offer clients more secure and efficient digital services. The AWS cloud computing service will also help interface AAR Insurance digital channels – Mobile Apps, USSD services, web portals and chatbots – with the company’s core insurance technology systems thus enhancing operational efficiency while reducing…

Standard Bank and Microsoft announced a strategic partnership to accelerate its digital transformation. The bank’s growing investment in the Microsoft Cloud will enable the innovation, efficiencies, and resilience required to respond to market dynamics and customer needs. This partnership builds on the 30-year relationship between the two companies and involves migrating workloads, applications, and platforms to Microsoft Azure to drive organisational efficiencies, as well as workforce collaboration with Azure, PowerApps, Workplace Analytics and Microsoft Teams. As part of the partnership, the companies will also establish the African Digital Foundry (The Foundry), a strategic alliance, for Standard Bank and Microsoft to…

Ireland’s digital banking platform provider, Layer has announced that it is partnering with United Bank for Africa (UBA) to fuel its digital transformation aimed at providing greater access to a wider range of financial services for its African customers. Layer is a digital transformation platform that enables large financial institutions to rapidly revolutionise their customer and back-office digital experiences. This new partnership will see the Dublin-based company add an additional 22 million users to its platform. Through its collaboration with Layer, the financial conglomerate will be able to provide seamless banking services in different jurisdictions from one central platform without…

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) launched its DigiLab Finance training and support programme to increase financial inclusion as well as support the digital transformation of financial institutions across Africa and the Middle East. DigiLab Finance is a capacity building programme that equips selected financial institutions with practical knowledge and tools to help them develop digital strategies, helping them adapt and adopt to technological trends accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic and better serve their clients. The first cohort of four financial institutions from Ethiopia, Ghana, Nigeria, and Zambia began the six-week online DigiLab programme on June 1. At the end of…

Over the past year, Latvia, Zimbabwe and Israel have witnessed the highest surge in fintech interest worldwide, an analysis by the Fintech News Network found. Latvia considered as one of the most startup-friendly countries in the world Google Trends data between April 2020 and April 2021 show that search queries for fintech and related topics including mobile payments, blockchain, open banking, insurtech and virtual banking, saw the strongest growth in Latvia. This comes on the back of a booming fintech sector and new favorable regulation to be introduced. Boasting 118 fintech startups, Latvia has leveraged its established legacy as a…

Despite strong mobile phone penetration and high mobile broadband connectivity, fintech development in Algeria is still underwhelming compared to other nations in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, experts say. According to World Bank experts, only 16% of adults and 11% of women use digital payments in Algeria, making the country a laggard in the broader MENA region where 23% of adults and 18% of women use digital payments. Data from the World Bank show that financial inclusion is still a major challenge in Algeria where just 43% of the adult population had a bank account in 2017.…

Digital payments company Mondia Pay and mobile money service M-Pesa have partnered to allow Tanzanians to conveniently access Mondia’s suite of online content on the Vodacom Tanzania PLC digital services network. With the addition of the Mondia Pay and M-Pesa payment option, users now have a safe, secure and convenient payment method connecting them to the world’s best content, from sports and movies to music and games. The partnership shows the growth potential for innovative fintech and content collaboration, and opportunities for Mondia’s premium partners and merchants to access new markets and revenue opportunities. Currently, over 7 million Vodacom Tanzania…

Global Partnership, an international consortium, has been awarded a license to operate telecommunications services in Ethiopia from 2022 onwards. Reuters reported that the consortium had paid $850 million for the license to beat out South Africa’s MTN who was also vying for it according to Brook Taye, a senior adviser at the finance ministry. The partners in the consortium are led by Safaricom Plc, a partner member of the Vodafone Group, and will establish a new operating company in Ethiopia to offer the services. In addition to Safaricom, the partnership includes Vodacom Group, Vodafone Group, Sumitomo Corporation which is an…

In Africa, South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya have the three most developed fintech ecosystems, combining more than 450 companies. This burgeoning industry has been driven by strong demographic indicators, increased connectivity, early regulation, and proactive governments. South Africa: an early mover in fintech regulation South Africa was an early mover in fintech regulation and development, welcoming digital innovation and supporting electronic money solutions as early as 2009, says the Africa Fintech State of the Industry 2020 report, produced by Africa Fintech Summit in partnership with EFG EV Fintech. This supportive stance accelerated in recent years and have translated to initiatives…

Expensya, a Tunisian-French expense management software provider, announced that it has raised $20 million in funds. The investment came from MAIF Avenir, a French innovation capital fund, and Silicon Badia, a venture capital fund headquartered between the U.S and the MENA region, The firm had previously secured $4.5 million during a fundraise in 2018 from French fund Isai and the European venture capitalist Seventure Partners. Expensya said that the new funds will be used to provide a comprehensive payment and expense management experience to its customers as well as accelerate its international expansion and reach across mainland Europe. Additionally, Expensya…

FIS, an American Fortune 500 company which offers a wide range of financial products and services, announced that it is expanding its payment processing capabilities into the rapidly growing markets of South Africa, Nigeria and Malaysia. In South Africa and Nigeria, FIS is offering domestic payment processing services through its previously announced agreement with payments technology company Flutterwave, a 2016 graduate of the FIS Accelerator programme. Flutterwave who recently attained unicorn status said in a statement that the partnership will allow merchants to process card networks such as Mastercard and VISA and this offers businesses expanding to Nigeria and South…

Okra, Africa’s Open Finance API announced its $3.5m Seed raise. The round was led by US-based Susa Ventures, with participation from existing investors TLcom Capital, and newly joined Accenture Ventures. Okra is an Open Finance platform that enables developers and businesses build personalized digital services and fintech products for customers. Okra’s API is a one-stop-shop for fintech developers in Africa. Leading the round, San Francisco-based Susa Ventures is known as one of the premium seed-stage funds in Silicon Valley with notable early investments, including Robinhood, multi-billion dollar company Flexport, Andela and Fast. Susa is also known for co-investing with top…

Morocco is the third largest fintech hub in the Arab world, hosting 13% of all 400 active fintech solutions, or about 40 fintech solutions, according to a research by financial inclusion think tank Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP). The report, titled Fintechs Across the Arab World, looks at the fintech ecosystem across the 22 member countries of the Arab League, and how the sector has grown over the past years. CGAP identified 400 fintech solutions offered by over 320 unique fintech providers in the region as of November 2020. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) hosted the most fintechs…