| Africa | Senegalese startup Comparez allows users in 9 African countries pay on Amazon and Jumia with mobile money. Comparez started out as a search engine that allowed users compare products to find the best prices. The company recently expanded scope, and now offer users the ability to buy goods on various e-commerce platforms using mobile money. Disrupt Africa |
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| Global | Facebook creates Swiss fintech firm, Libra Networks, with payments focus. Libra Networks, registered in Geneva with Facebook Global Holdings as stakeholder, will focus on blockchain and payments as well as data analytics and investing. Reuters |
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| Africa | Visa partners with mobile wallet service Palmpay to drive financial inclusion in Africa. Palmpay, a mobile wallet app that provides access to a variety of financial products offered by third parties, has partnered with Visa. This partnership will allow Visa cardholders initiate payments within the Palmpay app and make online and mobile payments by attaching their card details to their Palmpay profile. The Fintech Africa |
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| Ghana | MTN Ghana records GHS710m ($137m) in revenue for mobile money operations in 2018. MTN earned GHS710m ($137m) from mobile money operations in 2018, a growth of over 60% from the previous year. This growth was largely driven by customer cash out fees, commissions, and transfer service fees which account for 87% of total month on month (M-o-M) revenue. Prime News Ghana |
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| Kenya | Mobile cash transactions in Kenya hit Sh1.1trn ($10.8bn) in Q1 2019. The volume of money moved through mobile phones in the first three months of the year rose 10.7% to Sh1.1 trillion ($10.8bn). Some of this growth can be attributed to the fact that in April 2018, mobile payments systems became interoperable. This allows customers on one platform (eg. M-Pesa) to transfer funds across mobile money networks to another platform (such as such Airtel Money) in real time, and at a reduced cost. Business Daily |
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| Nigeria | Mobile Money Agents partner on financial inclusion. The Association of Mobile Money Agents in Nigeria (AMMAN) recently held a capacity building workshop. The aim of the workshop was to bridge the knowledge gap among financial inclusion agents and other stakeholders in the industry. ThisDay |
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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 | Opportunities exist for on-demand motorcycle riders (called "bodas" in Kenya, "okadas" in Nigeria) to double as agents for agent-dependent business models. Last week, Osarumen Osamuyi () wrote about about the business of on-demand motorcycle riders in African cities. In a Twitter response, Michael Kimani () explained how motorcycle riders can further drive financial inclusion in cash intensive, offline markets. Read the conversation |
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| Twitter | Have you lost track of some shares you bought in Nigeria years ago, or are you looking for an easy way to buy shares in Nigeria online? Venture Partner's founding partner, Kola Aina () shares a super handy tip on how to easily check if you have any unclaimed dividends, and how to buy new shares online. See details here |
| | EDITOR'S NOTE | Fun fact, I just discovered some long lost shares I bought while in my first year in Covenant University! |
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| Twitter | Buying grapes with QR code in an African market. Kimanzi () shows us a cool little video of how he purchased grapes via QR code. See video here |
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| Nigeria | Nigeria's Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to begin collection of VAT on online transactions. The FIRS intends to ask banks to impose the VAT on online transactions for purchases of goods and services. The move is supposed to aid the FIRS meet its NGN 8trn ($22.1bn) revenue targets for 2019. Punch |
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| Global | A group of global banks are developing a Blockchain Settlement System. ESome of the largest banks in the world are working together to develop a digital cash system that relies on blockchain technology to settle transactions. Although it's not yet clear which banks are investing, the banks involved are investing $50 million in Fnality, a new entity which will run the project. PYMNTS |
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| SOUTH AFRICA | South Africa's Standard Bank Wealth introduces new digital solutions to enhance the value of insurance. Standard Bank Wealth has integrated a digital system - including a chatbot and a referral portal - which allows advisers refer leads to their platform. This technology helped Standard Bank Wealth sell the first ever motor insurance policy via Facebook Messenger in the world. IT News Africa |
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| Kenya | Kenyan banks embrace Infobip Solutions, a cloud communications company, to grow customer base and manage competition. Kenyan banks have partnered with Infobip, a cloud communications company for businesses. This partnership potentially allows the banks offer banking services such as personal account verification information, account statements, banking transaction alerts via multiple channels, including WhatsApp. Africa Business Communities |
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| Global | Digital lending marketplace, Pocket Money, wants to make access to credit and loan repayment available to anyone, anywhere. Pocket Money has launched a solution that introduces borrowers to various potential lenders. This gives the borrower more alternatives, increasing the likelihood of accessing a loan. Africa News |
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| Egypt | Egyptian fintech startup XPay secures $250k angel investment. XPay, an online platform and mobile app developed to help communities afford a cashless routine, raised $250k from angel investors. This investment comes just after the company raised an unspecified amount of funding from Egypt’s first fintech-focused accelerator, EFG EV. WeeTracker |
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| Nigeria | Industry experts see new opportunities for fintechs as Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plans regulation. The CBN Director for Payments and Settlements, Sam Okojere, spoke at the recently concluded Disrupt 2019 Africa Fintech Foundry (AFF) conference organised by Access Bank. The CBN director stated that the apex bank is working with 17 groups in the fintech industry to create regulation. The Guardian |
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| Nigeria | Central Bank of Nigeria begins process for a Payments System Vision through 2030. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has begun the process of developing the Payment System Vision 2030 strategy. This is intended to define the strategic agenda for the Nigerian Payments System over the next ten years. Nairametrics |
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| Seychelles | Seychelles studying rules to govern mobile money, cryptocurrency, internet banking. Seychelles expects to have a national strategy that will guide the implementation of financial technology by the end of 2019. The Central Bank of Seychelles organized a three day working session to pave the way for the creation of the strategy. 150 participants representing policymakers, regulators, industry stakeholders, private sector representatives, and the media took part in the workshop. Seychelles News Agency |
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| South Africa | South African Reserve Bank (SARB) is considering its own cryptocurrency. The South African Reserve Bank wants to explore the possibility of a South African Rand-backed digital currency. The Bank held a meeting last week with some software developers and one cryptocurrency exchange to review the idea. SA Crypto |
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| Global | Coinbase Custody now has $1 Billion of Crypto under management. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the exchange’s custody service, Coinbase Custody, has $1 billion in assets under management (AUM) in just 12 months after launch. He also noted bitcoin is still the main asset of interest for institutions, but the interest for other cryptocurrencies is growing, too, so Coinbase currently offers services for 30 coins for institutions, including staking-as-a-service for some of them. CoinDesk |
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| Global | Cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, in advanced talks to acquire Xapo. Coinbase is in advanced talks to buy custody provider Xapo for around $50 million in order to boost its custody business. Xapo’s core product is cold storage vault custody of bitcoin, with rumors that the company holds as much as $5.5 billion of assets under custody (AUC). The Block |
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| South Africa | Applications are open to South African-based fintech startups for AlphaCode Incubate. South African financial service providers whose business is less than 2 years old are invited to apply to receive business support services, co-working space, and R1 million in grant funding. Apply Here |
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| Global | Female Focused Fintech Prize - DFS Lab. DFS Lab is launching a female focused fintech competition to recognize digital financial products that are narrowing the gender gap in financial inclusion. Fintechs focused products specifically designed for women should apply. Apply Here |
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