| Africa | Afreximbank launches continent-wide digital payment system. The Pan-African Payment and Settlement System (PAPSS) was launched by the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) at the African Union Extraordinary Summit. The platform, which has been developed in collaboration with the African Union, will make it possible for African companies to clear and settle intra-African trade transactions in their local currencies. This will also drive down cross border transactions cost and time. Today cross-border payments in Africa typically involve a third currency, such as the US dollar or euro, leading to high costs and long transaction times. Business Ghana |
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| Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria grants MTN super-agent licence. The licence, obtained through its subsidiary, Y’ello Digital Financial Services Limited, will enable MTN build an agent network and accelerate the growth of its fintech business in Nigeria. The company also said it would continue to work towards obtaining a Payment Service Banking licence it applied for in 2018. Punch |
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| Rwanda | Rwanda's national interoperability system to be launched soon. Interoperability is the principle that allows for the unrestricted sharing of resources between different systems. Currently, interoperability exists on bilateral institution-to-institution basis in Rwandan banks and telecom companies but it is not fully unified across all institutions. The aim of interoperability is to enable Rwandans connect their banks, telecom services, and others financial institutions in one place. Mobile Money Africa |
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| Global | Fintech startup Flutterwave and Alipay partner on payments between Africa and China. Founded in 2016, Flutterwave allows clients to tap its APIs and work with its developers to customize payments applications. Olugbenga Agboola, CEO of Flutterwave says the partnership will allow merchants accept or install Alipay as a payment type to accept payments from its billion users. Techcrunch |
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| Africa | Econet’s Cassava fintech launches Sasai. Econet’s Cassava Fintech International (CFI), is the fintech arm of Econet’s Cassava Group which offers international remittance services to all African countries. The product, Sasai, is a social payments platform with instant messaging, social media and mobile payments like WeChat’s WeChat Pay. The chat and explore features of Sasai will be instantly available globally, while the payment section will be launched in markets where Econet Wireless Mobile Network Group operates. Techmoran |
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| Malawi | Malawian mobile money service provider TNM Mpamba partners with Standard Bank to enhance financial inclusion. The partnership provides customers of both institutions a convenient way of moving money from any Standard Bank Account to any TNM Mpamba Wallet and vice versa. Malawi 24 |
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| South Africa | Virtual cards allow South Africans to shop anywhere online. The global payments company, Tutuka, is the issuer of Virtual Visa and Mastercards which helps South African businesses offer their consumers a more secure way to shop online. Virtual cards can be created in seconds through an app or an SMS and work anywhere online that accepts Visa or Mastercard. The company says that with the help of this payment solution, businesses in South Africa can now issue virtual cards to their staff or customers that financial freedom, as well as the ability to earn rewards. IT News Africa |
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| Morocco | Wirecard enables online payment for Royal Air Maroc. Wirecard has announced that it's now handling payments for online and travel agency bookings for Royal Air Maroc, Morocco’s national airline. In addition to processing all online Visa, Mastercard, and Maestro payments for Royal Air Maroc, Wirecard will also handle credit card payments made via a travel agency or airline agent ticket transaction settlement systems. With an annual passenger figure of 7.4 million and an average of 245 departures daily in 2018, Royal Air Maroc and its subsidiaries generated revenues of over $1.6 billion. IT News Africa |
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| Global | PayPal’s Q2 Rattles Investors. Product delays and currency headwinds sent PayPal shares into a slump with growth forecasts below estimates. Wall Street was down on PayPal's growth forecast when the payment giant reported earnings Wednesday afternoon after the bell, sending their share price down by roughly 7%. PYMNTS |
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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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| Twitter | Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) plans to call out debtors via a documentary produced in conjuction with Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) & Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Ugochukwu Obi-Chukwu () shares details in of Nairametrics' coroporate news round up.. this thread |
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| Twitter | MTN's new international remittance app for the African diaspora. Wiza Jalakasi () draws attention to Homeland, a new remittance product by MTN & MFS Africa. . See tweet here |
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| Twitter | How do fintech companies make money?. Follow to see answers to this question by the CEO of Plaid, Zachary Perret (). @zachperret |
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| Nigeria | Nigerian fintech Carbon volunteers audited financials. Carbon CEO Chijioke Dozie says releasing their financials have helped their customers trust them better. The transparency also seems to be a big draw for potential recruits of the company. The released financials show that the company had revenues in 2018 of $10 million, according to its online annual report, and turned a profit of around $500,000. Techcrunch |
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| Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) licenses 3 new banks to start operations. The new banks are Titan Trust Bank Limited, TAJ Bank Limited and Globus Bank Limited. While two of the newly licensed banks will operate as commercial lenders, the third one, TAJ Bank Limited was licensed to operate as a non-interest bank. The newly licensed TAJ Bank joins Jaiz Bank as only two banks operating as non-interest banks in the country. Nigeria Communications Week |
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| Ghana | Vodafone Ghana partners with Zenith Bank to deliver mobile financial services. The move grants Zenith Bank the ability to support Vodafone's cash hubs and agents with liquidity whilst acting as a super agent. The partnership also allows Zenith Bank offer some of the bank's products and services on the Vodafone Cash platform. Joy Online |
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| Nigeria | Nigeria’s Access Bank deploys CR2's new ATM and card solution. CR2 is an Irish-owned banking software company which provides omnichannel banking software to banks globally. The software company says it has successfully completed the migration of Nigeria’s Access Bank’s ATMs to their ATM driving and card switching solution. This move follows the deployment of the BankWorld solution project also offered by CR2. According to CR2, the project brings revenue opportunities, greater control, and long-term cost savings for the bank. IT News Africa |
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| Morocco | Fintech startup SOS Credit nets investment from SEAF Morocco Growth Fund. SOS Credit, founded in 2016, offers free mortgage brokerage services for those looking for mortgage-related financial products in Morocco. The investment will be used to support and accelerate SOS Credit’s growth. Ventureburn |
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| Kenya | Micro-lending platform Branch International raises $5 million to expand lending services in Kenya. With operations in Nairobi, San Francisco, Mumbai, Mexico City, and Lagos, Branch announced the issuance of a fourth commercial note of Ksh 500 million (~$5 million) after repaying the third note of a similar amount. Branch’s approach to commercial paper issuance has been largely ground breaking. It's one of the first early-stage technology companies to successfully raise debt in the local market. The $5 million raised will be used to bolster local lending operations in Kenya and grow the product. Techmoran |
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| Africa | Kenya-based digital lending startup Umba raises funding to lend up to €1 million a month. Umba, formerly Mkopo Kaka, has raised an undisclosed equity financing round led by ACT Venture Capital, Frontline Ventures and Bloom Equity. The lending company aims to use the funds to increase lendable amount up to €1 million a month, and also expand services to more markets in Africa. Techmoran |
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| Egypt | Fawry to list shares on Egyptian Stock Exchange. Egyptian electronic payments company Fawry has announced on Friday that it will list shares on the Egyptian Stock Exchange on or around August 8. The company, according to the statement, is selling 36% or 254.6 million of its ordinary shares at the price of EGP 6.46 - a discount from Fawry’s fair value price which according to Enterprise is EGP 6.9. Founded in 2008 by Ashraf Sabry & Mohamed Okasha, Fawry currently offers over 250 electronic payment services through its network of over 100,000 service points across 300 cities in the country – that include ATMs, mobile wallets, retail shops, post offices, and small vendor kiosks. Menabytes |
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| Africa | WorldRemit expands African mobile money play with MFS Africa. Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit continues its rapid expansion in Africa, launching new international mobile money services through a partnership with pan-African fintech MFS Africa. This launch brings WorldRemit’s mobile money service to five new countries via Airtel in Malawi and Niger, Orange in Madagascar, Vodacom in Mozambique, and MTN in Guinea. MFS Africa is Africa’s largest digital payments hub, connecting over 180 million mobile wallets on the continent. Through a single API, MFS Africa connects mobile wallet systems, banks, money transfer operators, and merchants to enable real-time, cross-border and cross-network transactions. African Independent |
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