TechPression

Tag: Africa Fintech Network

  • Africa Fintech Network, Rwanda Finance Ltd partner to drive fintech growth across Africa

    Africa Fintech Network, Rwanda Finance Ltd partner to drive fintech growth across Africa

    Rwanda Finance Limited and the Africa Fintech Network (AFN) announced a strategic partnership on Tuesday, aimed at advancing the fintech ecosystem in Rwanda and Africa.

    The partnership focuses on driving the growth of digital finance, promoting financial inclusion, and fostering fintech development through policy advocacy, capacity building, and knowledge exchange.

    Read also: MTN Group Fintech selects Network International as payment processing partner for Africa

    Areas of collaboration 

    The partnership will prioritise sharing research, studies, and industry insights to enhance knowledge and guide strategic decision-making in the fintech sector.

    The collaboration will also support capacity-building efforts by jointly planning conferences, workshops, and training courses to give fintech stakeholders the know-how to successfully negotiate the rapidly changing digital financial environment.

    The partnership will go beyond information sharing and skill building to concentrate on policy and regulatory lobbying, making sure that the fintech ecosystem functions within a framework that supports technical innovation, protects consumer interests, and encourages market growth.

    By means of this strategic partnership, AFN and RFL reaffirm its mutual goal of promoting sustainable fintech innovation, improving financial accessibility, and establishing Africa as a global leader in digital finance.

    Read also: Rwanda turns to digital clinics to tackle healthcare worker shortage

    About Africa Fintech Network and Rwanda Finance Limited 

    The Africa Fintech Network (AFN) is a platform that brings together African fintech leaders, organisations, and stakeholders through their national associations in order to share ideas and information, encourage and support the development of cutting-edge technologies, and facilitate their implementation both inside and outside of Africa.

    Additionally, the network provides a forum for coordinated regulatory engagement and advocacy.

    Rwanda Finance Ltd. (RFL), a company located in Rwanda, aims to establish Rwanda as one of Africa’s top financial destinations.

    RFL promotes Rwanda’s investment potential by offering financial services and cultivating an environment that supports financial innovation, investment, and economic expansion.

  • Visa announces Visa Africa fintech accelerator programme

    Visa announces Visa Africa fintech accelerator programme

    Visa has announced the start of a new programme called the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator.

    This programme will help the growing number of start-ups on the continent by giving them access to expertise, contacts, technology, and investment money.

    Alfred F. Kelly Jr., the executive chairman of Visa, announced the plan at the Bloomberg New Economy Gateway Africa conference in Marrakech, Morocco.

    The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator will help up to 40 start-ups each year speed up and grow through a three-month intensive learning programme that focuses on business growth and mentoring.

    After the programme is over, Visa plans to continue to help fintech grow by investing money in a few of the businesses that took part and speeding up their commercial launch by giving them access to Visa technology and skills.

     Read also: Visa partners with PayPal, Venmo, others to deliver new payments app

    Visa’s $1 billion African digital transformation

    The start of the Alsfrica Fintech Accelerator programme follows Visa’s recent promise to invest $1 billion in Africa’s digital transformation and its long-term commitment to improving Africa’s economies and driving inclusive growth.

    Starting in July 2023, fintech startups from all over Africa can apply to be part of the programme during two application periods each year. More than 1,000 fintech start-ups from Africa will compete in the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI) competition in 2022. This year’s winners from the African country editions will be asked to join the accelerator programme.

    In response to this, Mr. Kelly Jr., the Executive Chairman of Visa, said, “Africa has one of the most interesting and admired fintech ecosystems in the world, which brings great entrepreneurs to a young, digital-first population that is growing quickly.

    “Visa has been increasing its investments in Africa for decades and building stronger relationships across the continent to support the next wave of innovation and growth.  Our new Fintech Accelerator will help Africa’s best new Fintech companies grow by giving them advice, contacts, and money.

    Fintech support improves the payment ecosystem

    The support provided to participating fintechs will strengthen the payment ecosystem by advancing cutting-edge technological advancements that address African concerns and advance digitization.

    Visa’s main goal is to help everyone, everywhere, by giving people the best way to pay and get paid. It also works with Africa’s fintechs to help more people get access to money.

    Otto Williams, Visa’s Head of Partnerships, Products, and Solutions for Central Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, said, “Africa’s fintech community is at the forefront of payments innovation and giving more unbanked people access to the digital economy.”

    Visa has been working with this active group to create new programmes and solutions that will help fintechs grow and give them access to Visa’s technology and partner environment. With the new Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, we hope to work with more smart startups and companies to change the way money will be used in the future.

    Visa has put $1 billion into Africa and started many commercial projects and programmes to improve the way payments are made in Africa.

    There are local businesses in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, and Sudan. These are meant to improve the local financial ecosystem. Visa can be used to make payments in 54 African countries from 10 different places.

    It also opened the first Visa Sub-Saharan Africa Innovation Studio in Nairobi, Kenya. This studio is a state-of-the-art space where clients and partners can work together to create payment and commerce solutions that are ready for the future. The studio will also introduce and expand new technologies that help African consumers and merchants make and receive digital payments, such as Tap to Phone, which turns a mobile phone into a point-of-sale terminal and lowers the cost of transactions.

    The company also pushed Visa as the best fintech partner, working with innovators and entrepreneurs through the Visa Everywhere Initiative project, which has national programmes in South Africa, Kenya, and Egypt.

    It has worked with financial partners to improve financial literacy in a number of languages, including localized versions of Practical Money Skills in Egypt and Morocco and She’s Next, which helps female entrepreneurs in Egypt, Kenya, Morocco, and South Africa grow their businesses by giving them funding, mentoring, and networking opportunities.

  • African Development Bank (AfDB) partners with Africa Fintech Network on $525,000 grant

    African Development Bank (AfDB) partners with Africa Fintech Network on $525,000 grant

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to make a $525,000 grant to the Africa Fintech Network (AFN). This deal intends to create the Africa Fintech Hub, an online platform that will serve as a one-stop shop for all fintech-related operations in Africa.

    According to the announcement made yesterday, the agreement was signed on April 4th, 2023. The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) would provide the Africa Fintech Network with financial and technical assistance so that it could serve as the host organisation for the African Fintech Hub and manage its operations.

    The hub is a digital platform that would allow African fintech groups to share resources and information, develop linkages and alliances, and promote the work of African fintech companies, particularly those led or owned by women.

    The African Fintech Hub would be developed through a strategic relationship between AFN and the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri). Cenfri would give technical help in the Hub’s growth and would foster research, knowledge creation, and other innovative projects.

    Read also: Ghana’s Solar Electrification Gets $29 Million from AfDB

    Remarks from the  Director General of the Nigeria Country Department of AFDB

    Lamin Barrow, Director General of the Nigeria Country Department of the African Development Bank, emphasised the significance of the Bank’s support for the project, saying that it would contribute to the strengthening of the fintech ecosystem in Africa, boost competitiveness in the digital world, and leverage partnerships. This was one of the reasons why the support of the Bank was so important.

    He said that at the African Development Bank they are well aware that they have a significant part to play in assisting with the development of a robust, effective, and long-term sustainable fintech ecosystem throughout the continent. Through the use of a wide variety of creative interventions, they are expediting the delivery of their High 5 strategic priorities. These have assisted in improving access to digital infrastructure, which includes Information and Communications Technology linkages to landlocked countries as well as broadband internet services.

    He also said that the need to leapfrog barriers and scale up inclusive digital financial solutions to accelerate economic resilience across Africa has become even more urgent, This is especially true in light of the fact that Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest-growing economies.

    The African Development Bank and its partners have established the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility with the intention of making catalytic investments in support of innovative ideas such as the Africa Fintech Hub Project. This project aims to broaden access to and usage of digital financial solutions in order to meet the requirements of all Africans.

    Dr Segun Aina, President of the Africa Fintech Network, praised the Bank for its support of the effort.

    “We are thrilled to be working with the African Development Bank and Cenfri on multiple fintech projects across Africa to advance our shared goals of “driving Africa-led fintech solutions; encouraging information exchange, ideation, and support; and promoting innovative technologies in the financial services sector in Africa and beyond,” he said.

    AfDB Invests $21 Million In Chad’s Clean Electricity Project

    Projects Backed by ADFI

    ADFI Coordinator Sheila Okiro stated that the Bank is delighted to support this project to strengthen the fintech sector, furthering our work to leverage technology to contribute to closing the financial inclusion gap and creating employment across Africa. This statement was made through the partnership with the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility.

    “Projects backed by ADFI are currently building payment systems and infrastructure in Ethiopia and the ECOWAS area to improve digital financial infrastructure and regional interoperability. In other projects, officials in the financial sector in Ghana, Rwanda, and Zambia are given new technology to help protect consumers.”

    “The Facility is also helping projects to make it easier for smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Zambia, and Kenya to get digital micro-insurance. It also helps build cyber-resilience and remove barriers that make it hard for people in the area to use fintech services.”

    She also said that although fintechs have great potential to contribute to digital financial inclusion across the continent, the African fintech sector is significantly lagging behind those in other regions, such as Latin America and South-East Asia.

    In 2019, AFN and Cenfri conducted a poll that demonstrated the necessity of establishing and coordinating local fintech chapters, recruiting new members, highlighting the successes of members, connecting members to market access and investment opportunities, as well as advocating for members before local and regional authorities.

    According to the results of the survey, fewer than fifteen percent of fintech companies are owned by women. On the basis of the results of the survey, AFN will develop gender indicators and lenses as an important aspect of the project’s implementation, and they will apply these indicators and lenses.

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has agreed to make a $525,000 grant to the Africa Fintech Network (AFN). This deal intends to create the Africa Fintech Hub, an online platform that will serve as a one-stop shop for all fintech-related operations in Africa.

    According to the announcement made yesterday, the agreement was signed on April 4th, 2023. The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) would provide the Africa Fintech Network with financial and technical assistance so that it could serve as the host organisation for the African Fintech Hub and manage its operations.

    The hub is a digital platform that would allow African fintech groups to share resources and information, develop linkages and alliances, and promote the work of African fintech companies, particularly those led or owned by women.

    The African Fintech Hub would be developed through a strategic relationship between AFN and the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri). Cenfri would give technical help in the Hub’s growth and would foster research, knowledge creation, and other innovative projects.

  • UAE social micro-investment platform Pyypl launches operations

    UAE social micro-investment platform Pyypl launches operations

    The UAE-based fintech company Pyypl, whose name means “people,” has officially launched its social micro-investment platform for startups and micro-small and medium-sized businesses (MSMEs) in Africa.

    The first step of the launch is a relationship with Kenya’s Tuk Tuk Operators Network (TTON), which is a pan-African network that connects Tuk Tuk drivers in 47 different countries. Through its virtual debit cards, Pyypl’s platform will digitize the services of the operators, which will have a direct and positive effect on the growth of TTON.

    The partnership will help TTON reach its long-term goal of connecting three-wheeler players in Africa’s informal transport industry to a shared socio-economic, sustainable, and inclusive mobility platform under structured transport Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies (SACCOs). SACCOs urge their members to save money and help them get affordable loans that they might not have been able to get otherwise.

    Pyypl signed and launched after thirteen crucial months. The company’s profits tripled from October 2022 to January 2023. Sales increased after a year with various key business KPIs. App 2.0 was released in eight languages, and its prepaid card was accepted at 30,000 merchants in 150 countries and 100 currencies. Pyypl handled over 1 million client interactions.

    Read also: Africell develops “Afrimoney” mobile money service in Angola

    Pyypl CEO Antti Arponen claims

    “We are pleased to partner with the Tuk Tuk Operators Network to offer short-term, fair, and transparent investments alongside Pyypl’s premier digital financial services for the benefit of the network’s members across Africa.”

    “The heart of Kenyan society is made up of community groups, which include taxi drivers, delivery riders, farmers, youth development groups, and Tuk Tuk and Boda Boda riders, among others. With over 126,000 TTON members representing more than 1.6 million Boda Boda drivers in Kenya, this shows the huge chance for Pyypl’s debentures platform as we build partnerships in many African countries.

    As long as related organisations like SACCOs and trade unions maintain a high level of trust with their strong communities, Pyypl’s debentures platform wants to build a social ecosystem for entrepreneurs across Africa and make it easier for informal employment sectors to use digital financial services.

    Pyypl works directly with trade organizations right now, but in the near future, it expects bigger organizations like the World Bank and International Finance Corporation to become investors.

     

    Vincent M. Were, TTON Network Lead, responded

    “Kenya’s Tuk Tuks and Boda Bodas respect Pyypl’s involvement and services as they look for partnerships that will help the industry grow. Access to debentures through our connection with Pyypl has opened up a new chance for our transport ecosystem, allowing us to meet our most important financial needs while in service.

    “This smoothing of transport business activities through Pyypl’s micro-investment product has helped our economy grow as a field and as a country.” We’re looking forward to the day when both the three-wheeler and two-wheeler sectors in Kenya have fully subscribed to Pyypl’s bond platform.

    Pyypl’s strong capital base is speeding up regional growth as the company fulfils its goal to provide financial services to the 800 million smartphone users in Africa and the Middle East who don’t have access to them. Pyypl does this with virtual and real prepaid cards that are accepted around the world, instant domestic and foreign user-to-user transfers, and remittances to 42 currency destinations.

    MinieMoney, The Bulb, MoneyGames, and Future Z Adventures 2.0 celebrate Children’s Day

    About Pyypl

    Pyypl is an international payment technology company and provider of financial services. Its core processes are based on blockchain. It lets the 800 million smartphone users in the Middle East and Africa who don’t have enough money to pay for things digitally

    Pyypl works with top investors, banks, and payment networks to build a FinTech ecosystem that has never been seen before in the Middle East, Africa, or around the world. This is part of its goal to speed up financial inclusion.

    In addition to its virtual and digital debit cards, multi-currency digital wallets, and user-to-user payments, Pyypl lets you send money to 42 places around the world, including Asia and Europe.

    LinkedIn named Pyypl one of the top 10 startups in the UAE for 2021. Pyypl has investors from Europe, the United States, the Middle East, and Central Asia. It also has users from more than 150 different countries and has handled deals in more than 100 different currencies.

  • The Future of Mobile Money in Africa

    The Future of Mobile Money in Africa

    Fintechs arose as a result of the banking system’s inability to reach a sufficient number of people and lack of adequate infrastructure. Africa has suffered as a result of its lack of financial participation. Mobile money services began to appear in the area as the number of mobile phones and internet services increased. These services made it easier for Africans to obtain funds.

    M-Pesa was created in 2007 by Safaricom, a part of Vodafone, as the first global mobile money service.

    The program’s initial goal was to speed up remittance payments, and target marginalised lower- and middle-income Kenyan households, laying the groundwork for what is quickly taking shape across Africa.

    This service is provided by mobile network providers (MNOs). Phones can be used to receive, send, and pay for products and services. A bank account is not required for users to open a mobile money account, which is linked to their phone number. To emphasise its global reach, mobile money is referred to as “the epicentre” of Africa.

    Read also: AfriBlocks connects African freelancers to multinational corporations

    By 2022, Africa will control 70% of the $1 trillion mobile money business. African mobile money transactions will reach $701.4 billion in 2021, up 39% from $495 billion in 2020. The Future of Mobile Banking in Africa

    According to GSMA figures for 2022, mobile money transactions increased by 23% to 36.7 billion in 2021, up from 27.5 billion in 2020. With this number, Africa leads the world in mobile money 

    In Africa, as in the rest of the globe, the mobile money context is rapidly shifting from business-to-consumer (B2C) to business-to-business (B2B). Despite the fact that the African market is outperforming industry forecasts, we look at its future and what’s ahead for mobile money in Africa.

     

    Potential Opportunities in Mobile Money

    Mobile money’s quick diversification outside of person-to-person transactions has contributed to its recent success. In 2021, the mobile money industry will help small enterprises improve efficiency and customer experience.

    Mobile money-enabled merchant payments will reach a global average of $5.5 billion in monthly transactions by 2020. If that number doesn’t convince you, consider this:

    Mobile money services expanded globally faster than expected. By 2022, there will be 1.6 billion mobile money accounts, up 13% from 1.4 billion in 2021.

    Last year, Southern Africa added 24% more registered accounts and 18 million active mobile money accounts. 

    The GSMA expects mobile money markets in South Asia and Africa to grow. The sector is predicted to operate well and increase utilisation, promising investors and industry participants high profits in the next few years. Infrastructure boosts domestic e-payments. This may be profitable.

    How Mobile Apps are changing African finance sector

    Mobile Payments

    Mobile money helps startups grow. Job creation and poverty reduction are possible at the plant. Fast account-to-account transactions are possible thanks to Africa’s expanding payments infrastructure. Mobile money-enabling cellular standards could revolutionise African livelihoods.

    Mobile money should become the rule in Africa. We need a stable cell network. Mobile money is useful for Africa. Mobile money makes it easier for people to get money. As mobile network access gets better, more people will use mobile money. 

    The central banks’ fewer restrictions allow mobile money carriers to innovate as payment channels.

    As seen with Lipa na M-Pesa in Kenya, MT MoMo, Orange Money, and Airtel Money, mobile money can encourage innovation and diversify income streams across expanding services.

    In a region with over one billion people, half of whom will be under 25 by 2050, mobile money has yet to fulfil its full potential. Because of its potential, governments must normalise it.

  • AfDB signs $525,000 deal with Africa Fintech Network

    AfDB signs $525,000 deal with Africa Fintech Network

    The African Development Bank (AfDB) has signed a $525,000 deal to support Africa Fintech Network’s (AFN) digital hub concept.
    At the signing ceremony in Abuja, Lamin Barrow, Director-General of the AfDB’s Nigeria national section, stated that the project would improve fintech in Africa. He claims;

    Barrow went on to say that the $525,000 would “help in the operationalization of an online digital hub to act as a repository of knowledge for fintech firms across the continent and beyond.”

    Thanks to a strategic partnership between the Africa Fintech Network and Cenfri, the Digital Hub will help to strengthen Africa’s fintech ecosystem and boost the sector’s competitiveness.

    The funding is sponsored by the AfDB Group and the William and Melinda Gates Foundation through the ADFI.

    Luxembourg, France, and the Agence française de développement will join in 2019, 2020, and 2022.

    Read also: Nigeria, AfDB Announce $672 Million I-DICE Project For Young Tech Entrepreneurs

    Africa Fintech Network and AfDB’s donations

    Strategic cooperation between the Africa Fintech Network and Cenfri will deliver the Digital Hub.

    Cenfri and AFN’s African Fintech Radar initiative surveyed 100 fintechs in 17 African countries and found that African fintechs struggle with markets, funding, regulation, and product development for financially underserved market segments, undermining their contribution to a more inclusive digital finance ecosystem.

    Fintech growth is aided by several programmes. Investors still focus on fintech industries that already exist, and most venture capital investments in Africa are small and geared more towards seeding than growth. Fintechs aren’t used to changing policies that affect their jobs.

    AfDB’s support for financial inclusion and digital innovation in Africa changed after the occurrence. Barrow used the 2021 Global Findex Survey to show that 49% of Africans don’t have access to the formal economy and its benefits.

    Fintech’s powerful, easy-to-use, and successful digital financial solutions are crucial to bridging the continent’s financial gap. More fintech businesses are emerging as digital disruptions continue in finance.

    AfDB launches the African Pharmaceutical Technology Foundation

    Using Technology: AFN and AfDB

    These companies use technology to offer payment, lending, savings, financial literacy, and financial infrastructure services. He says that improves efficiency, service, and cost.

    Financial inclusion is crucial for economic stability and freedom, especially for marginalized groups. He believes it’s more crucial than ever to remove barriers and create digital banking options for everyone to boost Africa’s economy.

    Dr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank, says that investing in innovation and smart digital growth can overcome the barriers to financial inclusion and increase economic opportunity for all.

    The Hub will allow African fintech groups to share expertise, strengthen contacts, and showcase their ideas and impacts, particularly those of women-led fintech enterprises.

    The AFN Hub’s usefulness as a one-stop knowledge resource was driven by a thorough needs assessment. African fintech groups can cooperate and improve market access and investment prospects through effective lobbying with key public and commercial entities.

    AFN President Segun Aina thanked AfDB for its help and promised to complete the project.

    We’re glad AfDB is leading this unique effort. The AFN-AfDB partnership is equal. He says, “We look forward to building on this great collaboration because there is still a lot to do to bring the promise of digital inclusion to Africa and help it become the Africa we want.”