Afridigest Fintech Review: Africa's second most populous country gets a super app
Week 12 2023: March 19-25
The Afridigest Fintech Review is a weekly recap of what happened in African fintech.
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On to the week’s highlights:
• Two fintech deals were announced for $2.5M in disclosed funding.
• A very interesting report on the evolution of the merchant acquiring business model was released.
• A state-backed super app launched in Africa’s second-most populous country.
• Companies appearing in today’s Fintech Review: Credable, Ejara, Kora, telebirr, Money Q Fintech Solutions, PAYM8, Hyperspace Technologies, Vesti, Zone, Turaco, & more.
• Executives appearing: MFS Africa’s Dare Okoudjou, Sparkle’s Uzoma Dozie, Luno’s Marcus Swanepoel, OPay Nigeria’s Olu Akanmu, Mojaloop Foundation’s Steve Haley, Paymob’s Imane Adel, Bank of Kigali’s Obinna Ukwuani, Ozow’s Thomas Pays, Peach Payments’ Josh Shimkin, bigen’s Dr. Mthandazo Ngwenya, & more.
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Week 12 2023: March 19-25
💸 FundraisesFINTECH FUNDRAISES IN AFRICA
🇹🇿 Credable, a Tanzanian, Dubai-headquartered provider of embedded finance infrastructure, raised a $2.5M seed round.
🇨🇲 Ejara, a Cameroonian digital savings and investment platform targeting Francophone Africa, raised an undisclosed amount.
📰 News of the WeekYou might have missed it, but a new super app launched in Africa’s second-most populous country last week.
Aptly-named Ethiopian telco Ethio Telecom upgraded its mobile money platform telebirr into an all-in-one super app that provides users with access to financial services, e-commerce, food delivery, entertainment, transportation services, and more via third-party mini apps that give local businesses access to telebirr’s 27 million-strong user base.
It’s further evidence of the state-owned operator’s urgency in the face of upcoming competition from M-Pesa in the country.
You’ll recall that a Safaricom-led consortium was granted a telecom license in the Ethiopia last year after a successful $850M bid, and it now faces a potential $150M fee to receive a license for M-Pesa.
🚀 Partnerships & Product LaunchesLAUNCHES
