| Nigeria | Bloc acquires Orchestrate. Bloc, a Nigerian-based banking-as-a-service provider, has acquired Orchestrate for an undisclosed fee. Orchestrate started off as Getwallets, a wallets infrastructure provider but has now pivoted into payment aggregation for businesses. The acquisition allows bloc to focus on core banking products while allowing Orchestrate to drive its payments and other fintech efforts. Disrupt Africa |
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| Africa | Union54 pauses USD Virtual card service. Union54, a financial infrastructure provider, has paused its dollar (USD) virtual card issuing services to African fintechs. Consequently, several companies that rely on Union54's infrastructure have also suspended their virtual card programs. The suspension is set to last for a couple of weeks and is reportedly due to increased fraud and chargeback reports from Mastercard, their card issuing partner. TechCrunch |
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| South Africa | Nomanini partners with Baobab Group for supply chain financing. Nomanini, a retail and fintech solutions company, has partnered with Baobab group to offer retailers supply chain financing. The credit will be offered to retailers via StockNow, a new app that allows retailers to buy inventory directly from manufacturers and FMCGs. TechCabal |
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| Global | Regulating Crypto. In this report, S&P Global presents an exhaustive overview and framework for regulating cryptocurrency activities. S&P Global |
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| Africa | The state of financial inclusion in Africa. In the 2021 Global Findex Report, the World Bank shares interesting insights into the progress of digital financial services in Africa. World Bank |
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| Africa | Not all markets are created equal. In this Twitter thread, Ido Sum (@ido_sum) reflects deeply on how to think about the total addressable market (TAM) in Africa. Twitter |
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| Africa | Zazuu raises $2 million in a new fundraising round. Zazuu, a marketplace for cross-border remittance services, has raised $2 million in funding. The new round included Launch Africa, the HOAQ club, and other investors. TechCrunch |
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| Nigeria | Swipe raises $500k in pre-seed funding Nigeria's Swipe, a Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) and credit infrastructure fintech, has raised $500k in pre-seed funding. Investors were not disclosed but the new funding will be used for product development and deepening penetration in Nigeria. Tech Trends |
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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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