Decode Fintech

Issue 160

Jan 30 - Feb 05, 2023

Hi there,

Last week, my team and I spent some quality time together brainstorming and mapping out our plans for the new year. It was a delightful experience, surrounded by colleagues who are both smart and humorous.

I'm excited to see what the future holds for us in 2023 and can't wait to dive into the projects we have in store.

Cheers from me and my team 👋🏾

Tochukwu Ironsi

Market Intelligence Specialist, Paystack

Lending

Ghana

FLUID launches a lending platform for farmers. Fintech company, FLUID, has debuted a lending platform that’s focused on providing credit to farmers. The platform builds upon its existing offerings - connecting customers in rural regions to microfinance institutions and their banking and savings services. Disrupt Africa

Conversations

Nigeria

What does NIBSS do? In this Twitter thread, Benjamin Dada (@DadaBen_), pens a detailed explainer on the different functions of The Nigerian Inter-Bank Settlements System (NIBSS). Twitter

EDITOR'S NOTE

You can pair this with our deep dive into the NIBSS Instant Payments (NIP) service and how it powers Nigeria's digital economy.

Africa

The State of KYC in Africa. Check out this extensive report by Smile Identity where they explore developments in KYC and fraud mitigation across different African markets. Smile Identity

Fundraising

Egypt

MNT-Halan completes a $400 million funding round. MNT-Halan, an Egyptian provider of lending, payments and commerce solutions has raised $400 million in new funding. The new round comprises $140 million in debt and $260 million in equity funding. New investors included Chimera Investments which provided $200 million for 20% of the company. TechCrunch

Global

Lendable raises $110 million SME fintech fund. Lendable, a leading provider of venture debt, has raised $110 million in capital to invest in fintechs that are targeting MSMEs in Africa and LATAM. The fund is Lendable's fourth private debt fund and includes investors such as USAID and DFC. Lendable

South Africa

Lulalend raises $35 million in Series B funding. Lulalend, a South African digital lender to SMEs, has raised $35 million in Series B funding. The round was led by Lightrock and will be used to disburse more loans and accelerate product development. Lulalend

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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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Meet the Paystack Team at AfricaNXT!

We’re hosting a panel session today at AfricaNXT (Social Media Week, Nigeria) to discuss how to thrive in challenging economic times as a startup and you’re invited!

Come join Paystack COO, Amandine Lobelle, as she chats with high-performing operators — Sola Akindolu (Brass), Tosin Olasehinde (Money Africa), Damilola Teidi (Ventures Platform), and Adelshola Aliogo (Vendease).

Date & Time: Thurs, Feb. 9 (3 - 4 PM WAT)
Venue: Landmark Event Centre, Lagos (NXT://TECH Stage, Innovation Pavilion)

[Book your seat here →]