Author: John Haule, Founder/CEO at Swahilies

Of Africa’s nine unicorns, all except Andela are fintech companies. In 2024, fintech claimed nearly half of all start-up investments in Africa and welcomed two new unicorns: Moniepoint and TymeBank. I’m highly optimistic about what African fintech companies might achieve in 2025, and I’m willing to place my bets on the top 10 + 1 African fintechs to watch in 2025. If things go well, we might just see a unicorn emerge from this list(just saying). 1. M-Kopa The ~ $400 million annual revenue company, with a 30,000-strong sales team, serves 5 million underbanked Africans by offering smartphones and other…

If you talk about the Tanzanian tech ecosystem, you are always going to mention milestones like Kopa Gas’s $25 million acquisition, Ramani’s $32 million round, Nala’s $40 million round, Credable’s $2.5 million round, EA Fruit’s $2 million round, and others. But it is easy to forget that these companies were once pre-seed startups. As someone once said, the future of an ecosystem doesn’t look promising when there are few or no pre-seed startups. So, who is seed funding Tanzanian startups? That’s what inspired me to write about them below, believing it could help fellow founders identify who has already invested in Tanzanian startups and encourage them to reach out. Funguo…

According to the IMF, Tanzania, a nation of 60 million people, is among the fastest-growing economies in 2024. Over the past two years, the Fintech industry in Tanzania has experienced significant growth, and you don’t need to use a telescope to see that. Major funding rounds by Tanzanian Fintech startups like Ramani, which raised $32 million, and global companies like Unlimit expanding into the Tanzanian market, are just a few examples. Additionally, companies like Wasoko are doubling down on their commitment to Tanzania by investing in building structures for their talent in the country. These activities signal a promising trend for the Fintech industry in Tanzania. In today’s…