April 24, 2017 @ 2:58 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Barclays Bank recently selected the 10 fintech startups that will be participation in its second acceleration program, powered by TechStars, at its Africa’s Rise fintech innovation hub in Cape Town. According to TechStars, the second class’ applications extended to 52 countries across the globe and… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News  |  Tagged africa, barclays, fintech, Techstars, yasaman hadjibashi, yossi hasson

April 16, 2017 @ 12:45 pm By JD Alois  |  

Crowdfunding is a global phenomenon but it is obviously evolving at different speeds in different countries. Africa is one region where the new form of finance can be utilized to benefit the economy.  A recent report published by the CrowdfundingHub highlights a single country in… Read More

Read more in: Global  |  Tagged africa, crowdfundinghub, matchbox consultancy, nigeria, research, ronald kleverlaan, suzanne wisse-huiskes

April 7, 2017 @ 2:26 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Friday, Finnovation Africa: Uganda 2017 opened in Kampala and brought together more than 300 fintech leaders that are seeking to drive the constructive transformation of banking and financial services across Africa.  According to the organizers, the conference opened with a keynote session featuring international fintech… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News  |  Tagged africa, chris principe, events, finnovation africa: uganda 2017, fintech, varghese thambi, wilbrod humphrey owor

March 27, 2017 @ 2:04 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

German-based SME lending platform Bitbond and African payment services provider BitPesa announced on Monday they have formed a new partnership to improve access to African SMEs financing.  Bitbond stated that by working with BitPesa, borrowers who receive funding on its lending platform can now have their loan… Read More

Read more in: Blockchain & Digital Currency, General News  |  Tagged africa, bitbond, bitpesa, elizabeth rossiello, radoslav albrecht, sme's

March 24, 2017 @ 4:24 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital money transfer service, WorldRemit, announced on Friday it has partnered with East and Central Africa bank, KCB, to create a new instant option to send remittance to Kenya. According to the company, the partnership aims to support the growing demand for instant, digital remittances among… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, annastacia kimtai, ismail ahmed, kcb, Kenya, worldremit

March 20, 2017 @ 4:43 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

FinTech Circle has formed a partnership with Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) to launch FinTech Academy Africa. The companies revealed that the new program is geared towards those interested looking more about fintech and the curriculum was designed to deliver a comprehensive understanding of the… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News  |  Tagged africa, cape innovation and technology initiative, citi, fintech, fintech academy africa, fintech circle, ian merrington, susanne chishti

February 10, 2017 @ 3:28 pm By JD Alois  |  

The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) has published its first benchmarking report covering alternative finance in the African and Middle East markets. Produced with the support and backing of Energy4Impact, UKAid and CME Group Foundation, the CCAF report states that alternative finance totaled more… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, cambridge, cambridge centre for alternative finanance, ccaf, cme group foundation, energy4impact, fsd africa, mena, research, robert wardrop, simon collings, the africa & middle east alternative finance benchmarking report, ukaid

January 30, 2017 @ 4:00 am By JD Alois  |  

Africa is probably the least developed continent when it comes to alternative finance but it certainly stands to gain much in its evolution. In a new report published today by the Financial Sector Deepening Africa (FSD Africa) in partnership with the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance (CCAF) and Anjarwalla… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Global  |  Tagged africa, anjarwalla & khanna, cambridge centre for alternative finance, ccaf, financial sector deepening africa, fsd africa, joe huxley, kieran garvey, research, uk, united kingdom

December 9, 2016 @ 2:23 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Digital money transfer service WorldRemit announced on Friday it is teaming up with African financial institution Guaranty Trust Bank (GTBank) have launched new money transfer routes to West and Central Africa. With the WorldRemit app or its website, users may now send secure overseas money transfers to any bank account in… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News  |  Tagged africa, fintech, gtbank, money transfer, worldremit

December 8, 2016 @ 3:43 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Visa has partnered with the Hong Kong-based VC firm and incubator Nest to run a four-day fintech bootcamp in Nairobi for innovative startups in Africa, according to a release. Nest mentors will join executives from Visa’s teams in Kenya, South Africa, and the UAE to coach selected… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, hong kong, jabu basopo, nairobi, nest, visa

September 22, 2016 @ 7:03 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Equity Bank and Safaricom, a Kenyan lending platform and a telecom platform, are courting PayPal customers seeking to make transfer account funds more quickly and easily, according to Business Daily Africa.  The agreement signed by Equity Bank means customers can now cash their PayPal accounts in three days instead of the earlier… Read More

Read more in: General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, karla enriquez, Kenya, paypal, xoom

September 13, 2016 @ 5:22 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

Last week,  founders of Africa Courier Express (ACE), Tunde Kehinde and Ercin Eksin, announced the launch of a new financial services platform called Lidya. The portal was notably founded to improve access to credit and finance across the African continent and for Africans living in the… Read More

Read more in: Fintech, General News  |  Tagged africa, africa courier express, financial, fintech, lidya

August 3, 2016 @ 12:45 pm By Dave Van Niekerk  |  

We’ve heard the sensationalism before – That the unbridled array of opportunities in Africa are either being “squandered”, “exploited” or just now seeping to the surface for globalization to capitalize on the ‘Rising Continent’ in a timely fashion. Though rhetoric, it’s no doubt significant, though that… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Fintech, Global, Opinion  |  Tagged africa, dave van niekerk, mybucks, perspective

June 28, 2016 @ 1:00 am By JD Alois  |  

  Inaugural Middle East & Africa Alternative Finance Benchmarking Study. The Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance at the University of Cambridge Judge Business School is launching its first Middle East & Africa Alternative Finance Benchmarking Study. This study on alternative finance follows the successful publication of… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Global  |  Tagged africa, allied crowds, andrew dix, cambridge, cambridge centre for alternative finance, ccaf, crowdfund capital advisors, davinia cogan, fsd africa, gvep, jason best, joe huxley, lars kroijer, lendit, mena, middle east, middle east & africa alternative finance benchmarking study, peter renton, research

May 12, 2016 @ 11:17 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Envestnet | Yodlee (NYSE: ENV), the data aggregation and data analytics platform powering cloud-based innovation for digital financial services, today announced a strategic partnership with AlphaCode, a collaborative club for next generation financial services entrepreneurs in South Africa. “The fintech landscape, combined with Africa’s entrepreneurial spirit,… Read More

Read more in: General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, alphacode, chipo mushwana, dominique collett, fintech, jason o'shaughnessy, south africa

April 5, 2016 @ 4:05 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

On Tuesday, payment service provider, PayU, announced it conducted an analysis on ecommerce customs and fintech potential in Latin America, Central/Eastern Europe, India, and Africa at Money20/20 Europe. Findings that are featured in PayU’s report included: High growth of ecommerce in Africa. More than 65%… Read More

Read more in: General News  |  Tagged africa, asia, central europe, eastern europe, ecommerce, fintech, india, latin america, laurent le moal, mario shiliashki, payu, raj kamal

February 16, 2016 @ 6:37 am By Erin Hobey  |  

Kwanji, the emerging market payment specialist, has closed its first crowdfunding round, exceeding its initial target and finishing 123 per cent overfunded having raised £496,682 on the UK equity crowdfunding platform,  SyndicateRoom. “Kwanji is a fantastic UK-based fintech business, which helps SMEs save significant amounts of money… Read More

Read more in: General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, fintech, goncalo de vasconcelos, Kenya, kwanji, leslie onyesoh, microfinance, SME, uk

December 15, 2015 @ 11:40 am By Sam Raymond  |  

If you are an entrepreneur in emerging markets, you have probably heard a lot about crowdfunding, but wondered how it could be useful for your early-stage business. In developed markets, crowdfunding is swelling the ranks of early-stage entrepreneurs and bolstering the pipeline of enterprises that… Read More

Read more in: Featured Headlines, Global, Opinion  |  Tagged africa, developing countries, kiva, perspective, sam raymond, world bank

December 14, 2015 @ 12:20 pm By JD Alois  |  

Pavegen has partnered with Shell and Akon in its biggest project yet: Africa’s first people & solar powered football pitch (soccer field for the yanks). The field incorporated 96 energy tiles beneath the turf. The switch was flipped this past Friday representing another successful implementation of… Read More

Read more in: General News, Global  |  Tagged africa, crowdcube, Laurence Kemball-Cook, nigeria, pavegen, renewable, shell, uk, united kingdom

December 3, 2015 @ 2:31 pm By Samantha Hurst  |  

This week, impact-focused equity crowdfunding platform, Malaik, launched in Africa. The new website gives investors access to the continent’s opportunities, and mediates its risks with a four step due diligence process. This combination is a fresh application of technology that can unlock massive potential in the… Read More

Read more in: Crowdfunding Portals, General News, Offerings  |  Tagged africa, malaik, uneku atawodi, ventures africa