| Africa | MFS Africa acquires Global Technology Partners (GTP) for $34m. MFS Africa, an aggregator and switching platform for mobile money wallets in Africa, has acquired GTP, a provider of prepaid cards, for $34m. With this acquisition, MFS Africa will be able to offer virtual and physical prepaid cards to its customers. Bankers Journal |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Like we’ve mentioned a number of times in the past few weeks, the next product focus for mobile money wallets with local adoption is enabling international commerce for users through virtual and physical cards. Unlike mobile money, cards are accepted by merchants globally due to the ubiquity of card networks like Mastercard and Visa.
Despite the opportunity, card issuing can be a very complex drawn-out process involving multiple integrations with banks, processors, and card networks. Players like GTP offer simplified and integrated card issuing and processing services that allow customers to rapidly issue cards without having to handle the underlying complexity.
GTP is already a leading provider of prepaid card solutions in Africa, securing partnerships with fintechs like Chipper Cash and Wallets Africa. With the acquisition of GTP, MFS Africa can provide not just local processing services for mobile money operators but also upscale and provide solutions for international transactions as well.
There has been quite a bit of attention to the geographical dynamics of the acquisition, but even more interesting is the potential value that the acquisition is likely to bring to both parties. |
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| South Africa | Santam acquires JaSure. Santam, a leading South African-based insurance provider, has fully acquired JaSure, an insurtech startup providing insurance services through digital channels. Santam had initially acquired 51% of JaSure in 2020 but has now acquired the remaining 49% in the most recent deal. Disrupt Africa |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | As we noted in Issue 100, South Africa reportedly accounts for 70% of the $68b in gross written premiums in Africa. Santam is already a leading provider of insurance services and with this acquisition, will be able to acquire new and younger audiences through digital channels. For JaSure, it presents an opportunity to digitise Santam's processes and leverage its wide base of customers. |
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| Africa | Fintech rules the app stores in Africa. In this article, Emeka Ajene of Afridigest analyses Google Play Store data to determine the top android applications and categories for African users. Afridigest |
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| Kenya | Kenyan Parliament passes ICT Practitioners Bill. Kenyan's 12th Parliament has passed the 2020 ICT Practitioners Bill. The new bill, which now awaits the president's assent to be passed into law, will require employees of technology companies to register for ICT licenses to be renewed annually. TechCabal |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Here is the full draft of the ICT Practitioners Bill. There has been a strong wave of opposition from the local tech community and for good reason. Technology is built by people and thrives best in an environment with low barriers to entry. Regulations like the proposed ICT Bill could exclude makers and builders and negatively impact Kenyan's budding ecosystem in the long term. |
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| Kenya | The Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) proposes a 20% tax on digital lenders. Kenya's apex regulator has announced plans to introduce a 20% tax on fees charged by digital lenders to customers. This comes after the release of digital lending regulations by the CBK in March 2022. TechCabal |
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| Nigeria | The Central Bank of Nigeria introduces new bank transfer limits. The CBN has directed banks and payment processors to increase the limit for bank transfers to N25m for individuals and N250m for businesses. The apex regulator has also required indemnity agreements from payers for transfers above these newly increased amounts. Nairametrics |
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| Global | Binance Labs raises $500m investment fund. Binance Labs, the venture capital and accelerator arm of Binance, has closed a $500m investment fund. The new fund will be used to invest in and scale projects that leverage blockchain technologies. Disrupt Africa |
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| Nigeria | Indicina raises $3m in seed funding. Indicina, a startup that provides digital credit tools to fintechs and banks, has raised $3m in funding. The new round was led by Target Global and will be used to drive expansion and product development. TechCrunch |
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| Africa | Klasha raises $2.1m in seed funding. Klasha, a cross-border fintech and ecommerce provider, has raised $2.1m in seed funding. The new funding round included investments from Amex Ventures (its first African investment), Global ventures, Greycroft, and Berrywood Capital. Quartz Africa |
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| Egypt | Nice Deer raises $1m pre-seed funding. Nice Deer, an Egyptian Insurtech that provides a digital platform that connects medical service providers with insurers, has raised $1m in pre-seed funding. The new round was led by Disruptech Ventures and will allow Nice Deer to drive the development of new products. Disrupt Africa |
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| Mauritius | VantagePay secures undisclosed funding from Crossfin. Disrupt Africa |
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| South Africa | Franc raises $522k seed extension round. Finextra |
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Share a tip | Do you have an announcement, event, or job posting you'd like to share, or have you come across an interesting bit of African fintech news recently? Hit reply and let me know! I might be able to include it in next week's newsletter. |
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