| Ghana | Ghana tipped to be fastest growing mobile money market in Africa by World Bank. According to the report, there's been a significant growth in the number of financial access points over the past five years in Ghana. This growth is related to the spread of mobile money and its interoperability across payment instruments. This has positioned Ghana as the fastest growing mobile money market in Africa. BizWatchNigeria |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | See the full World Bank report on 4th Ghana Economic update here |
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| South Africa | South Africa's Virgin Money to launch bank account, plans expansion for fintech app. Virgin Money, a financial services brand, will launch a zero monthly fee bank account and cheap cross-border payments on its fintech app, Spot. Spot historically only allowed users to make payments to other individuals or merchants. Andre Hugo, CEO of Virgin Money, compared Spot to digital banks like Monzo and Revolut. Moneyweb |
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| Kenya | Visa collaborates with KCB Bank Kenya and the Boda Boda Safety Association of Kenya to digitize payments for the motorcycle transport operators. The partnership kicks off with a 3 month pilot project where 100 boda boda riders will be enabled on Visa to make and receive payments for free, using the solution. The mobile payment solution is expected to accelerate safe digital payments and financial inclusion among boda boda operators. Tech-ish.com |
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| South Africa | Financial services provider Sasfin establishes council for financial industry. Sasfin, an investor in a number of fintech startups, created the independent forum to assess how to better improve financial services for South Africans by leveraging the digital economy. The team appointed to the Digital Advisory Council is being selected for the breadth and range of knowledge they would bring to the table. IT News Africa |
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| Ghana | Vodafone Ghana strikes payments deal with DStv. Users of Vodafone’s mobile money service, Vodafone Cash, can now use the platform to pay for their DStv subscriptions. The mobile money service enables customers to make payments for both monthly and yearly subscriptions. Ghanaian Times |
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| Nigeria | South African mobile phone operator, Vodacom, closing its business-managed services in Nigeria. Vodacom said it has sold its businesses in Nigeria to Synergy Communications. Vodacom also closed its business-managed services in Angola, Ghana, Zambia and Ivory Coast. However, Vodacom is not actually exiting any of the countries. The sales are a change in enterprise strategy in Africa, in order to grow and strengthen its core business. The Guardian |
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| Kenya | Mobile money transfers in Kenya hit Sh1.06 trillion (~$1.8 billion) in Q1 2019. Data from the Central Bank of Kenya shows Sh1.06 trillion (~$1.8 billion) was moved through mobile cash transfers during the first quarter of the year. The continued expansion of mobile payments - in which Kenya is a global leader - has largely been at the expense of plastic card payments, whose growth has been stagnant over the past few years. The Star |
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| Morocco | Moroccan mobile operator Inwi announces its mobile money service for September. The telecom company will launch its mobile money service, Wana Money, to compete with Maroc Telecom and Orange to drive greater financial inclusion in Morocco. Ecofin Agency |
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| Global | Orange Business Services appoints new Vice President, Middle East and Africa. Orange Business Services has announced the appointment of Sahem Azzam as Vice President, Middle East and Africa. Sahem will lead the Orange Business Services regional team from the Dubai headquarters, supported by offices in Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and the Arabian Gulf, South Africa and Turkey. He takes over the regional leadership position from Luc Serviant. IT News Africa |
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| Africa | Orange invests in KaiOS Series B fundraise. KaiOS Technologies, maker of KaiOS, a mobile operating system for smart feature phones, has confirmed Orange’s participation in a recent Series B funding round. Alioune Ndiaye, CEO Orange Middle East & Africa, says that providing customers with access to affordable devices is a crucial step in Orange's ambition to democratise access to the Internet in Africa. . IT News Africa |
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| Zambia | Zambian National Financial Switch goes live. The National Financial Switch has officially gone live with 14 out of 18 commercial banks in Zambia being connected to the system. The switch is the first ever local nationwide shared platform, which will facilitate the interoperability of digital payments throughout the country. One major benefit of the switch is reduced fees and charges to customers because of the removal of international switching fees. Prior to this migration, all domestic card transactions were switched outside the country and treated as international transactions and were accordingly priced as such. Zambia Reports |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | See the official launch report of the National Financial Switch here |
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| Nigeria | Instant bank transfers in Nigeria rise to N41.48 trillion (~$115 billion) in 5 months. The value of transactions via the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System Instant payment system rose to N41.48tn in 5 months. This is a 36% increase in the transactions value compared with N30.448tn (~$84.55 billion) in the first 5 months of 2018. Punch |
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| Ghana | Payment Systems and Services Act to boost ongoing digitisation in Ghana. The Act, passed by the Central Bank of Ghana in March and approved in May, is part of a broader strategy by the Bank of Ghana to create an enabling regulatory environment for convenient for retail payments and funds transfer structures. Ghana Web |
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| Somalia | Somalia's IBS Bank has partnered with Visa to deepen its payments services in Somalia. IBS Bank, a bank with a growing network of 7 branches in key districts in Mogadishu provides services such as cash withdrawals and balance enquiries. VisaNet, Visa's centralized processing network, will be utilized in Somalia to help facilitate the transfer of value and information among Visa's clients in a faster, more reliable and more secure way. All Africa |
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| Nigeria | Nigeria’s Kudimoney rebrands to Kuda, secures banking licence from Central Bank. Nigerian lending startup Kudimoney has rebranded to Kuda. Kuda has also received a microfinance banking licence from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in preparation to launch a full service digital bank. The startup, whose focus has been primarily on lending, will now offer digital-only, no-fee banking services. Kuda users will receive a debit card, a spending and savings account, and an app to keep track of finances at all times. . Disrupt Africa |
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| Global | Ripple to invest up to $50 million in MoneyGram. Ripple Inc., a startup behind the XRP cryptocurrency, has agreed to invest in MoneyGram in a deal that stands to rank among the first crypto-based company investments in a major U.S. publicly listed firm. Both companies have noted that the investment is strategic, and will help MoneyGram delve into how blockchain can improve efficiency and bolster operations. PYMNTS |
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| Global | Facebook officially announced Libra cryptocurrency and shares details on how it will work. Libra, will let users buy things or send money to people with nearly zero fees. Facebook won’t fully control Libra, but instead get just a single vote in its governance like other founding members of the Libra Association. Some of the founding members include Visa, Stripe, Uber and Andreessen Horowitz, which have invested at least $10 million each into the project’s operations TechCrunch |
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| Kenya | M-Pesa, Airtel Money set to be split from parent companies in new bill. Safaricom, Airtel, and Telkom Kenya will be required to split their telecommunications business from their mobile money and lending units if a bill set to be presented for debate in Parliament is passed into law. In a move that could complicate the business environment for the telcos, the bill requires the companies to apply for licences from the respective regulators of any industry or sector ventured into. Previously, there has been unsuccessfully push for Safaricom to split its telecommunications service business from its mobile money transfer platform, M-Pesa. Business Daily |
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| Uganda | Bank of Uganda moves to regulate mobile money. The Bank of Uganda recently proposed a national payments law which will streamline Uganda’s payment systems. Mobile telecom operators are optimistic that the new law will increase efficiency in the sector. Currently, the Bank of Uganda share the responsibility of regulating mobile money with the Uganda Communication Commission. kfm |
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| Global | FinTech Showcase 2019. Are you a fintech innovator looking to expand your product across emerging and developing markets? If so, then the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI) encourages you to apply for its first-ever FinTech showcase. Register here |
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