Decode Fintech

Issue 141

Jul 25 - Jul 31, 2022

Hi there,

Top-flight European club football is back this weekend! As a Manchester United fan, I’m a bit uncertain about our prospects going into the season despite a new coach and some solid signings. The pre-season campaign showed sparks but sparks don’t win trophies, long-burning fires do. That said, Glory Glory Man United!

The Paystack Editorial team is still looking to speak to startup founders for an audio show where high-growth startups in Africa can get advice on how to scale their startups from established operators and founders. Tap into Paystack’s knowledge network to find practical solutions to your challenges, by filling out this short form →

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Tochukwu Ironsi

Market Intelligence Specialist, Paystack

Payments

South Africa

PayGate partners with Samsung Pay for digital payments. South Africa's PayGate, a digital payments subsidiary of DPO Group acquired in 2016, has partnered with Samsung Pay to offer Samsung Pay as a payment method to their customers. IT News Africa

Kenya

Umba acquires a majority stake in Daraja Microfinance Bank. Umba, a digital banking startup based in Nigeria and Ghana, has acquired a 66.6% stake in Daraja Microfinance Bank. The acquisition will allow Daraja to digitize its lending operations while also enabling Umba to provide banking services to the Kenyan market in a compliant way. TechCrunch

Regulation

Kenya

The Central Bank of Kenya issues new directives on Flutterwave & Chipper Cash. The CBK has announced that Flutterwave and Chipper Cash are not licensed to provide financial services in Kenya and has directed financial institutions to cease and desist any operations with both fintechs. This comes after a similar announcement by the CBK’s governor, Patrick Njoroge, during a recent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC). Business Insider

Conversations

Africa

On fighting fraud and righting regulations. The hosts of the Open Africa Podcast (@OpenAfricaPod) — Furo, Laolu, and Nosa — share insight into the complexities of fraud and the role of regulation in protecting consumers. The Open Africa Podcast

Fundraising

Africa

Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund (CAIF) raises €110m. CAIF, formed by Tunisia-based AfricInvest and France-based Cathay Innovation, closed a €110 million fund to invest in African startups. The fund will be focused on Series A and B deals with some allocation for seed-stage rounds. Quartz Africa

Nigeria

Evolutics raises $250k in funding. Nigerian-based Evolutics, a provider of software solutions to insurance companies, has raised $250k in funding. This round was led by Mercurial Advisory and Dinku Transnational. Nairametrics

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.