Hi Fintech friends 👋,

Here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;

• Six Fintech funding deals worth over $400 Million were announced.
• African based VC got $7 Million to fund seed to series-A African startups.
• Members of the United States Congress asked the Nigerian government to immediately release a detained executive of the world's largest Crypto exchange platform.
• Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets received $30 Million to fund SMEs in Nigeria.
• Global Cryptocurrency exchange platform announced it will leave Nigeria citing “recent changes in local laws and regulations.
• YC-Backed African Cross border payments startup expanded to more international markets.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• TerraPay raised $95 Million in debt financing to manage remittance volumes to several African countries like Kenya, Ghana, Egypt, and Uganda.

• d.light raised $176 Million to finance and scale its solar operations in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania.
• Egyptian fintech Dopay raised a $13.5 Million Series A extension round to boost offerings and accelerate expansion.

• TurnStay, a South African travel-focused fintech,secured $300K  from United States-based Venture capital firms, DFS Lab and Digital Currency Group (DCG).

• South African Web3 Startup Momint, Secured $50K Grant Funding.

💰 Venture Funds

• Dutch development finance institution FMO disclosed an approved $7 Million investment in the LoftyInc Alpha Fund, a pan-African generalist early-stage venture capital fund investing across Africa from Seed to Series A stage.

• Seychelles and South Africa accounted for 95% of venture funding in the blockchain industry in Africa in 2023.

• Two Ethiopian Startups Selected For Inaugural Timbuktoo Fintech Accelerator Program.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Unified Payments began recording POS transactions after receiving Payment Terminal Service Aggregator license (PTSA), only the second to be issued by Nigeria’s Central Bank.
• Wema Bank launched AlatPay to enable instant payment for small businesses in Nigeria.
• YC-backed cross border payments startup Grey expanded International presence and services to LATAM, SEA Markets.
• Saccos management platform, Wakandi partnered with Sanlam to launch life insurance in Uganda.
• M-pesa Tanzania partnered with Ali Pay to power Tanzania to China cross-border payments. 

👔 Leadership Lineup

• Members of the United States Congress submitted a resolution urging the Nigerian government to immediately release Tigran Gambaryan, a detained Binance executive, from imprisonment.Gambaryan has been in custody since February 2024.

📰 News of the Week

• MNT-Halan raised $157.5 Million 17 months after becoming Egypt’s first unicorn.

17 months after MNT-Halan announced a $400 million investment to become Egypt's first unicorn, the Egyptian startup has secured $157.5 million in a new funding round to fuel its expansion beyond Egypt.

The International Finance Corporation (IFC) led the round with a $40 million investment, joined by existing investors such as Development Partners International (DPI), and Lorax Capital Partners, funds managed by Apis Partners LLP, Lunate, and GB Corp. 

This new development brings the startup’s total funding to $677.5 million over the past two years, supporting its expansion efforts.

Mountie Nakhla founded MNT-Halan in 2018 to digitally bank the unbanked and substitute cash with electronic solutions. The startup offers several services, including lending, payments, consumer finance, and eCommerce. Per the startup, it has served over 5 million clients through its tech and data-driven solutions and disbursed over $2.5 billion in loans, while its eCommerce platform processes more than $50 million in monthly sales.

👀 Eye Openers

• Should African Ecommerces adopt Pay On Delivery strategy? 

• It seems to be a bad strategy?

• What is the real issue? Is it trust?

What is the best way to build trust in African e-commerce? Share your thoughts in the comments; we will publish them in our next newsletter

📑 Read of the week

• Africa’s S Curves; The unique shape of the African tech opportunity. (Medium)
• Mobile Money Africa For Global Payments. (Substack)
• A profitable union: How banking agents helped OPay and Moniepoint distribute 17 million cards. (Techcabal) 

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Swedfund, a Swedish development finance institution, extended a $30 million loan to Access Bank, Nigeria’s biggest bank by assets, to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria. 

• OKX, a global cryptocurrency exchange and web3 services provider announced it will discontinue its services in Nigeria from August 16, 2024, citing “recent changes in local laws and regulations.”

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Panel Discussion; Fintech in Africa - The Era Of Consolidation Has Begun.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• Visa opened Applications for the 3rd Cohort of its Fintech Accelerator Program for Africa.
• Want to sponsor or share your fintech story and reach over 100,000 fintech enthusiasts each week? reach out to john@thisweekinfintech.com to get started.

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

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