Building on the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS), the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and deep-tech firm Interstellar have launched the PAPSS African Currency Marketplace (PACM). The announcement was made during the 2025 Afreximbank Annual Meetings in Abuja, held from 25 to 28 June. PACM is designed to address Africa’s long-standing issue of currency inconvertibility, aiming to ease intra-African trade by allowing businesses to exchange local currencies directly, without relying on external hard currencies. Africa’s fragmented financial landscape, consisting of 41 currencies and differing regulatory environments, has forced businesses to rely on hard currencies for trade, resulting in what has…

Wave, a Senegal-based mobile money provider and one of Africa’s highest-valued startups, has secured US$137 million in debt financing to expand its mobile money operations and strengthen working capital across both existing and new markets. The round was led by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), with participation from development finance institutions including British International Investment (BII), Finnfund, and Norfund. The funding will support Wave’s efforts to broaden access to low-cost financial services for underserved populations across the continent. The company, which currently operates in eight West African countries, serves over 20 million monthly users through a network of 150,000 agents and…

Three fintech companies with African roots have been named in this year’s TIME100 list, recognized among the world’s top 100 most influential companies in 2025. These companies appear alongside global giants such as Alibaba, OpenAI, BlackRock, and SoftBank, in the annual list compiled by the American news magazine Time, which showcases the businesses and people who have had the greatest impact on the world that year across various fields, including politics, culture, science, and business. Moniepoint, an online banking services provider from Nigeria, is recognized as the fastest-growing fintech in Africa, and the continent’s fourth fastest-growing company overall. Formerly known…

Africa’s cross-border payments market has seen steady and significant growth in recent years, propelled by regulatory reforms, infrastructure modernization, and the rapid adoption of mobile money solutions. This upward trajectory is expected to continue, with the market projected to more than triple by 2035, increasing from an estimated US$329 billion in 2025 to US$1 trillion in 2035, according to a new report by Oui Capital. The report, released in May, explores Africa’s evolving cross-border payments landscape, analyzing the current state of remittances in Africa, the sector’s opportunities and challenges, and the key drivers behind the market’s expansion. According to the…

Stanbic Bank Kenya, the sixth largest lender in the country by assets, is seeking to raise $100 million (KES12.9 billion) to finance startups and small businesses across East Africa. The initiative marks an uncommon move by a commercial bank into a sector traditionally dominated by venture capital firms and development finance institutions (DFIs). According to TechCabal, the funds will be channelled through Stanbic’s Catalytic Fund, which targets startups and SMEs in sectors such as agritech, healthtech, manufacturing and the creative economy, industries that often face difficulties accessing capital. The bank’s approach reflects a potential shift in Kenya’s banking sector, which…

International banks and investors can now apply for a license to operate in Ethiopia, the country’s central bank announced, marking a major step in the government’s efforts to attract more foreign investment into its domestic banking sector. According to Reuters, Ethiopia, currently undertaking wide-ranging economic reforms under a four-year, US$3.4 billion programme with the International Monetary Fund signed last July, is also working to float its birr currency and finalize an $8.4 billion debt restructuring deal with official creditors. In December, Ethiopia’s parliament passed a landmark law allowing foreign banks to establish subsidiaries, open branches or representative offices, and acquire…

EFT Corporation, a payment solutions provider based in Africa that supports over 100 million end users and processes more than US$33 billion in transactions annually, has partnered with several of Kenya’s leading savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs) to develop a shared digital payments platform. The announcement was made at EFT Connect: Kenya, an event held in Nairobi in May 2025, which brought together regulators, SACCO representatives and fintech stakeholders to discuss the future of cooperative financial infrastructure. Although SACCOs in Kenya have made progress in adopting digital tools, many are not yet licensed as payment service providers or fully integrated…

Luno, a global cryptocurrency investment platform, has resumed operations in Kenya as part of its broader growth strategy on the continent. The relaunch introduces a compliant and accessible means for Kenyans to buy, sell, and hold digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USDT. Initially operating in Kenya between 2013 and 2014 under the name BitX, Luno now serves over 15 million users in more than 40 countries. The platform allows for instant buying and selling of cryptocurrencies without commission fees, according to Business Today Kenya. Kenyan users can trade using the local currency (KES) across live pairs including BTC/KES,…

A side event at the African Development Bank Group’s 2025 Annual Meetings explored how AI could support inclusive and sustainable development across Africa. The 90-minute session, held under the theme “The AI Revolution: How Will AI Support the Delivery of the African Development Bank’s 2024–2033 Ten-Year Strategy and the Transformation of African Economies?”, was co-hosted with Google AI Research and brought together participants from government, private sector, and research institutions. The discussion centered on what it would take for Africa to become AI-ready. In his opening remarks, Solomon Quaynor, Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure & Industrialization at the African Development…

Mastercard has announced a collaboration with enza, a Abu Dhabi-based payment solutions company, aimed at supporting the expansion of fintech companies across Africa. Through this partnership, fintech firms will gain access to Mastercard’s global network via the enza platform, enabling them to integrate embedded payment capabilities into services for both consumers and businesses. A recent report from the European Investment Bank highlights the rapid growth of the fintech sector in Africa, noting that the number of companies has nearly tripled since 2020. Many of these businesses focus on incorporating payment services into broader financial solutions, offering alternatives to traditional systems…

Yellow Card, a licensed stablecoin payments provider operating across Africa and other emerging markets, has entered into a partnership with Visa. The collaboration aims to support innovation in cross-border payments and financial infrastructure in regions where Yellow Card is active. Under the agreement, Yellow Card and Visa will explore use cases for stablecoins, with a focus on streamlining treasury operations, improving liquidity management, and enabling quicker and more cost-efficient cross-border transactions. “Traditional payment companies continue to question not ‘if’ they need a stablecoin strategy, but how quickly they can deploy one,” said Chris Maurice, Co-Founder and CEO of Yellow Card.…

The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has announced the licensing of 41 additional Digital Credit Providers (DCPs), pursuant to Section 59(2) of the Central Bank of Kenya Act. This brings the total number of licensed DCPs to 126, following a previous round of licensing in October 2024 which saw 27 providers approved. Since March 2022, CBK has received over 700 applications. In reviewing these, the Bank has worked closely with applicants and consulted relevant regulatory bodies and agencies, including the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner. These engagements have primarily focused on applicants’ business models, consumer protection measures, and the…

LemFi has acquired London-based fintech company Pillar in a move aimed at expanding its credit services for immigrants in the UK and globally. The acquisition provides LemFi with access to Pillar’s proprietary credit scoring technology and its Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) credit license. This will allow the company to integrate credit services into its existing platform, which currently focuses on remittances and cross-border payments. Founded in 2021, LemFi enables immigrants to open multi-currency accounts and conduct international transactions at low cost. The firm now serves over two million customers across the US, UK, Canada, and Europe, with monthly transaction volumes…

As Africa’s fintech landscape matures, more traders across the continent are turning to Forex and Contracts for Difference (CFDs) as accessible routes to wealth creation.  While the market presents huge opportunities, success requires more than just downloading a trading app. To trade Forex and CFDs effectively, African traders need to combine global strategies with local realities. Here are five essential ways to sharpen your trading edge. 1. Master the Fundamentals Before You Go Live Too many beginner traders jump into the market without a solid grasp of the basics. Forex and CFD trading are not get-rich-quick schemes, they require strategic…

Tigran Gambaryan has announced his departure from Binance, ending a four-year tenure during which he established and led the company’s first global investigations team. Gambaryan joined Binance at a time when the exchange did not have an internal investigations function. Tigran Gambaryan’s resignation comes after a difficult period that began in February 2024, when he and Binance’s Africa Regional Manager, Nadeem Anjarwalla, were detained in Nigeria during a trip aimed at engaging with regulators about the company’s operations. Nigerian authorities accused Binance of enabling currency speculation and money laundering, alleging that the platform played a role in the naira’s decline…

dLocal, a Uruguay-based cross-border payments platform that connects global merchants with emerging markets, has announced its intention to acquire AZA Finance, a fintech firm specialising in cross-border payments and foreign exchange solutions in Africa. Founded in 2013, AZA Finance operates across major African markets and currencies, providing services that support businesses transacting across borders. The company has processed over 15 million transactions, moving more than US$9 billion in funds since its inception. According to dLocal, the acquisition will expand its presence in Africa and increase cross-border transaction volumes, particularly in the remittance sector. It will also enhance the company’s treasury…

Wingu Africa, a carrier-neutral data centre operator and a key player in East Africa’s digital infrastructure sector, has raised US$60 million to support its regional expansion and the broader digital transformation of the continent. The funding, provided by Rand Merchant Bank (RMB), will be used to roll out data infrastructure across priority markets amid increasing demand for secure, scalable, and interconnected digital systems. The company currently supports over 40 clients, including telecom operators, hyperscalers, financial institutions, and content providers. Its data centres are built for high availability, incorporating resilient power, cooling, and security systems to manage next-generation digital workloads. “This…

PalmPay, the African digital banking fintech, is reportedly in discussions to raise between US$50 million and US$100 million in a Series B funding round, according to sources cited by TechCrunch. The round is expected to comprise both equity and debt financing. While valuation targets have not been disclosed, PalmPay’s 2021 fundraising placed it just below unicorn status. Founded in Nigeria in 2019, the company has raised nearly US$140 million to date and is now said to be profitable. A PalmPay spokesperson declined to comment directly on the fundraising but noted that the company is “in a strong financial position and…

Cross Switch, a payments technology company headquartered in Malta, has partnered with South African fintech firm Paysoft in an effort to improve digital payment systems for businesses in South Africa. The collaboration aims to address longstanding inefficiencies in transaction processing that hinder business operations, such as system downtime, delayed fund availability, and reliability issues tied to legacy payment infrastructure. Both companies are aligned in their goal of streamlining and scaling digital payments to enable South African businesses to grow without facing technical or financial barriers. Paysoft, which has been providing bank-agnostic, user-focused payment solutions since 2012, will now integrate Cross…

BPC, a global payments solutions provider, has expanded its operations in Nigeria, appointing Dapo Adeosun as Managing Director to lead its efforts in one of Africa’s largest financial markets. Adeosun brings 30 years of experience in banking and payments, including senior roles at First Bank, Access Bank, UBA, and a 12-year tenure at the Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), where he led business development and training initiatives. “At NIBSS, I witnessed firsthand the challenges that are in front of Nigeria’s financial sector, from ensuring secure, efficient services to finding future-proof, easily scalable solutions to bridge the financial inclusion gap,” he…