Decode Fintech

Issue 137

Jun 20 - Jun 26, 2022

Hi there,

I’m writing this newsletter from Kigali, Rwanda, where I’ve been connecting with my colleagues, old and new, and generally having an amazing time.

The weather is great and the view is astounding. By the end of this trip, I’ll probably have an opinion on Rwandan cuisine, having tried a variety. Feel free to reply to this email recommending a few must-eats and must-dos before I head back to Lagos!

On a sadder note, the Decode Fintech Roundtable planned for this Thursday won’t hold anymore due to some logistic issues. We deeply apologize as we were looking forward to meeting you and learning from you. In the coming weeks, we’ll communicate a new date for the roundtable.

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Tochukwu Ironsi

Market Intelligence Specialist, Paystack

Payments

Nigeria

Interswitch partners with Compass Plus for card payment processing. With this new partnership, Interswitch will leverage Compass Plus' TransAxis, a payments processing and operations solution, to process card payments on Interswitch. Six Nigerian banks have already been integrated into the platform and a more exhaustive migration is expected in the future. Financial Technology Africa

Regulation

Egypt

Lucky obtains CBE approval to issue debit cards. Egyptian fintech, Lucky, has obtained final approval from the Central Bank of Egypt (CBE) to issue debit cards. The new card was launched in partnership with Mashreq Bank, Meeza, and MDP, and will allow customers engage in bill payments and general spending. Disrupt Africa

Fundraising

Ghana

Fido raises $30m in Series A funding. Fido, a digital credit startup based in Ghana, has raised $30m in Series A funding. The new round, which is an undisclosed mix of debt and equity, was led by Fortissimo Capital, with participation from Yard Ventures. With this raise, Fido plans to add new products, such as savings, and expand to new markets. Tech Nova

Nigeria

Thepeer raises $2.1m seed funding. Thepeer, a Nigerian-based fintech that facilitates payments from digital wallets, has raised $2.1m in seed funding. The new round was led by Raba partnership with participation from other investors including existing partners like Chipper Cash. TechCabal

Kenya

mTek raises $1.5m in funding. mTek, a digital insurance platform based in Kenya, has raised KES 170m (~$1.5m) in funding. This new round is a mix of debt and equity investment from Finclusion group. The newly funded insurtech will also leverage Finclusion's outlets to expand within Kenya. Techweez

Tanzania

Kuunda raises $2.25m in seed funding. Kuunda, an embedded finance provider for SMEs and mobile money agents, has raised $2.5m in seed funding. The funding round was led by Accion Venture Lab and will be used to drive penetration in existing markets, Tanzania and Pakistan, as well as expansion into new countries. Accion

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.