| Ghana | Ghana Interbank Payments and Settlements Systems (GhIPSS) to launch five digital payment products in 2020. Archie Hesse, the CEO of GhIPSS has announced plans to launch five new digital payment products in 2020. These products are expected to be interoperable across all the banks, fintech companies and card networks in Ghana. The flagship product, GhQR, is a centralised switching platform for QR payments in Ghana and will be rolled out in March 2020. Mobile Money Africa |
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| Ghana | GhIPPS mobile money platform records 267% growth in transaction value in 2019. Mobile Money Interoperability (MMI), a centralised mobile money platform recorded GHS781.6 million (~$143 million) in transaction value in 2019, a 287% increase from GHS212.8 million (~$38 million) in 2018. Mobile money transaction volume also increased by 317% from 2.2 million in 2018 to 9.4 million in 2019. Mobile Money Africa |
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| East Africa | East Africa plans to launch a regional currency by 2024. East African Community (EAC) which comprises Burundi, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda has announced their plans to launch a single currency for the East African region by 2024. Ambassador Liberat Mfumukeko, the General Secretary of the EAC, also announced that the establishment of the East African Monetary Institute (EAMI) has been approved by the Summit of Heads of State, and the institute would later be transformed into an East African Central Bank that would issue the single currency. Mobile Money Africa |
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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 | How much did fintech companies raise in 2019? Partech Partners (@partechpartners), a global investment firm, released their annual African Venture Capital report for 2019 in this tweet. According to the report, fintech firms accounted for 41% of VC funding in 2019 raising $836 million compared to $379 million in 2018. You can download the 2019 Partech Africa Tech VC report from this page. |
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| Twitter | Why can't we carry out instant cross-border mobile money transfers within Africa? Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) sparked a conversation with this question and @wizaj shared his thoughts on the challenges of cross-border mobile money transfer within Africa. Here's a link to the original tweet. |
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| Africa | Ecobank launches sandbox for African fintechs. Ecobank Group, a pan-African financial institution, has announced the launch of their Pan-African Banking Sandbox for fintech companies across the 33 African countries that the group operates in. The sandbox will allow these companies to gain access to Ecobank's APIs and drive innovative financial solutions. Techpoint Africa |
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| Egypt | Central Bank of Egypt pilots eKYC solution. The Central Bank of Egypt announced that they've completed the testing phase for their new electronic Know Your Customer (eKYC) solution. This enables customers to open bank accounts electronically, without having to physically visit a bank or interact with a bank agent. This service is expected to launch in March 2020. Financial Technology Africa |
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| South Africa | MTN South Africa relaunches mobile money service. MTN South Africa has relaunched their mobile wallet, MoMo, in South Africa after shutting it down more than 3 years ago. The newly launched wallet will offer basic mobile money services such as money transfers and bill payments using either USSD or a mobile app. Mobile Money Africa |
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| Ghana | WorldRemit signs mobile money remittance deal with Wizall. WorldRemit, an international money transfer service, has partnered with Wizall, a Senegal-based mobile money platform. This deal enables Wizall's customers to receive international cross-border transfers directly into their mobile wallets. Financial Technology Africa |
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| Global | MoneyNetint forms a strategic partnership with TerraPay. MoneyNetint, an international payment service, has partnered with TerraPay, a mobile-only payment switching platform. The deal will enable operators connected to Terrapay's network to facilitate Peer-to-Peer (P2P) international money transactions into Asia and Africa using MoneyNetint. Fintech Finance |
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| Kenya | CA removes Equitel from mobile money category. The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) has removed Equitel, a digital financial product, from the list of mobile wallet products under their supervision. The platform has been re-categorized as a mobile banking service instead of a mobile wallet service, and will now be regulated by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK). Mobile Money Africa |
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| Kenya | Kenya’s Tanda raises undisclosed funds from SA-based HAVAÍC. Tanda, a Kenyan-based digital micro-retailing platform for bills and utility payments, has raised an undisclosed round of funding from HAVAÍC, a venture capital firm based in South Africa. This new funds will help Tanda expand their network of micro-retailing agents across Kenya. Techmoran |
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