Statista, a world-renowned market data provider, and CNBC, an American media company, listed seven African fintech companies—Flutterwave, Piggyvest, Kuda, MTN, Bank Zero, Palmpay, and Yoco—in their 2024 list of the 250 top fintech companies. The startups were selected from 2,000 companies globally. The list, which also features global companies like Mastercard, Klarna, Flywire, and Robinhood, … Read more
In April, Nigeria’s central bank barred fintechs from onboarding new customers for six weeks. In that period, two of Nigeria’s biggest fintechs—Opay and Moniepoint—slowed card distribution because the demand for cards declined, according to ten point-of-sale agents who spoke to TechCabal. “A lot of people [opening] new accounts also want a card that just makes … Read more
Access Holdings Plc, the parent company of Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, will raise ₦351 billion ($233 million) from existing shareholders to finance its goal of becoming “the world’s most respected African bank.” Access Holdings will offer 17.7 billion new ordinary shares at ₦19.75 each. On Tuesday, the 35-year-old lender valued at ₦696.69 billion shared … Read more
Chinese-backed fintech giant OPay has received approval from a Federal High Court in Lagos to freeze customer bank accounts in thirty listed banks as part of a process to recover ₦714 million received by customers during a system glitch. The system glitch occurred from December 10, 2023, to March 4, 2024, and allowed customers to … Read more
In recent years, a handful of Latin American fintechs have made inroads into Africa to tap into its growing digital payments market. The latest entrant is Minka, a Colombian fintech backed by Tiger Global. Minka builds payment networks that allow people to send money between participating banks and other financial institutions. On Tuesday, Minka launched … Read more
At the peak of 2021 crypto optimism, experts argued that Africans had to participate in the crypto economy, create products, and educate a continent of young people on a future that Web3 was sure to dominate. Those arguments led to the launch of startups like Mara (CoinMara Inc), a pan-African exchange that set out to … Read more
Safaricom, Kenya’s top mobile network, has picked Pezesha, a digital lender, to provide credit to small business owners, which will add to the telco’s existing loan products, including M-Shwari and Fuliza. The new product, Mkopo wa Pochi, will allow small business owners to borrow money directly through their M-PESA business accounts. Mkopo wa Pochi, already … Read more
While the takeover of business banking startup Brass by a group of investors was widely hailed as a win by the tech ecosystem, it also entailed a restructuring that saw several employees leave the business. An initial TechCabal report claimed only Sola Akindolu, the CEO, Emmanuel Okeke, the CTO, and head of design, Tolulope Saba, … Read more
Prospa, the Y Combinator-backed business banking startup, is the subject of complaints and social media callouts after persistent delays in processing customer withdrawals. Four customers said their withdrawals had not been processed since May 2024 amid the company’s claims of service downtime. It is not the first time customers have experienced such delays. In February … Read more
Diageo Plc, the UK-based majority owner of Guinness Nigeria, looks to be exiting Nigeria after selling its 58.02% stake to Tolaram Group, the consumer food giant. Tolaram paid ₦81.60 for those shares, implying around a 60% premium on Guinness Nigeria’s Monday closing price of ₦50. Diageo will retain ownership of the Guinness brand, it will … Read more