M-Pesa
MFS Africa acquires GTP for $34M as it looks to issue prepaid cards to its clients
Pan-African digital payments company MFS Africa is acquiring U.S.-based Global Technology Partners (GTP) in a cash-and-shares deal worth $34 million, FT reported today. There are very few deals of suc
Visa and Kenya’s Safaricom launch virtual card to support global digital payments via M-Pesa
Global digital payments giant Visa and East Africa’s biggest telecom Safaricom, the operator of the M-Pesa mobile money product, have today launched a virtual card, enabling millions of M-Pesa users
Ghanaian fintech Dash raises $32.8M seed to build connected wallets for Africans
Global financial transactions are facilitated mainly by payment processors such as Visa or Mastercard. They are responsible for communication between banks and fintechs to settle transactions for cons
MTN Uganda introduces overdraft facility as it steps up competition in digital lending space
Africa’s mobile-money sector remains the most active of any region in the world, according to GSM Association (GSMA), an umbrella body representing the interests of players in the telecommunications
Mobile overdraft facility Fuliza outshines Silicon Valley-backed lending apps in Kenya
A digital mobile overdraft facility christened Fuliza by Kenya’s biggest telco Safaricom Plc is giving the country’s popular loan apps a run for their money barely three years after its launch. Fu
Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and others invest $200M in African fintech Wave at $1.7B valuation
Francophone Africa has its first unicorn, and if you’ve been following tech on the continent, you will be very unsurprised to hear that it’s coming from the world of fintech. Wave, a U.S.
Interswitch to revive its Africa venture fund, CEO confirms
Pan-African fintech company Interswitch plans to fire up its corporate venture arm again — according to CEO Mitchell Elegbe — who spoke at TechCrunch Disrupt on Wednesday. The Nigerian founder did
The Sun Exchange raises $3M for crypto-driven solar power in Africa
South Africa-based renewable energy startup Sun Exchange has raised $3 million to close its Series A funding round totaling $4 million. The company operates a peer-to-peer, crypto-enabled business tha
Africa Roundup: Visa connects to M-Pesa, Flutterwave enters e-commerce
It seems the demand for Safaricom’s M-Pesa payment product never eases. Since its 2007 launch in Kenya, the fintech app has commanded over 70% of the mobile money market in that country. When CO
Visa and Kenya’s Safaricom partner on M-Pesa, payments and tech
Visa just connected to Africa’s most powerful mobile payments network. The global financial services company and Kenyan telecom Safaricom — operator of the M-Pesa mobile money product — anno
Africa Roundup: Africa’s tech ecosystem responds to COVID-19
In March, the virus gripping the world — COVID-19 — started to spread in Africa. In short order, actors across the continent’s tech ecosystem began to step up to stem the spread. Early in Ma
Africa turns to mobile payments as a tool to curb COVID-19
Africa is using digital finance as a means to stem the spread of COVID-19. Governments and startups on the continent are implementing measures to shift a greater volume of payment transactions toward
Jumia adapts Pan-African e-commerce network in response to COVID-19
Pan-African e-commerce company Jumia is adapting its digital retail network to curb the spread of COVID-19. The Nigeria headquartered operation — with online goods and services verticals in 11 Afric
CcHub funds tech to curb COVID-19 on concerns of an Africa outbreak
Africa’s largest innovation incubator, CcHub, will offer funding and engineering support to tech projects aimed at curbing COVID-19 and its social and economic impact. The Lagos and Nairobi base
Kenya turns to M-Pesa mobile-money to stem the spread of COVID-19
Kenya’s largest teleco, Safaricom, will implement a fee-waiver on East Africa’s leading mobile-money product, M-Pesa, to reduce the physical exchange of currency in response to the COVID-1
Africa Roundup: TLcom closes $71M fund, Jumo raises $55M, AWS partners with Safaricom
VC firm TLcom Capital closed its Tide Africa Fund at $71 million in February, and announced plans to invest in 12 startups over the next 18 months. The group — with offices in London, Lagos and Nair
AWS partners with Kenya’s Safaricom on cloud and consulting services
Amazon Web Services has entered a partnership with Safaricom — Kenya’s largest telco, ISP and mobile payment provider — in a collaboration that could spell competition between American cloud
Nigeria’s Paga acquires Apposit, confirms Mexico and Ethiopia expansion
Nigerian digital payments startup Paga has acquired Apposit, a software development company based in Ethiopia, for an undisclosed amount. That’s just part of Paga’s news. The Lagos based
Lessons from M-Pesa for Africa’s new VC-rich fintech startups
Over the least decade, Africa has been in the midst of a startup boom accompanied by big growth in VC and improvements in internet and mobile penetration.
PalmPay launches in Nigeria on $40M round led by China’s Transsion
Africa-focused payment startup PalmPay has launched in Nigeria after raising a $40 million seed round led by Chinese mobile-phone maker Transsion. The investment came via Transsion’s Tecno subsi