Hi Fintech friends 👋,

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

• Two Kenyan based startups raised Seven Figures rounds to power commerce and payments on Whatsapp.
• South African based Privacy-by-Design fintech raised $7.5 Million to scale globally.
• The US SEC ordered the CEO of a Nigerian Agri-Fintech startup to pay over $250 Million in fines.
• A Nigerian Fintech replaced its CEO over claims of ‘misappropriating’ $1.5 Million.
• The Nigerian SEC issued Crypto licenses to two Fintechs.
• The Central Bank Of Uganda issued Payments licenses to two African Fintechs expanding in the country.
• Two African B2B ecommerce startups finalized their merger and planned to offer more financial services.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Kenya based Chpter raised $1.2 Million in pre-seed round to power commerce and payments on Whatsapp.

• Kenya based Sukhiba raised $1.5 Million seed extension to help businesses with commerce, payments and CRM on Whatsapp.
• Omnisient raised $7.5 Million to accelerate the Global Adoption of its Privacy-by-Design fintech Platform.

💰 Venture Funds

• Ventures Platform, Africa VC which has invested in over 90 companies, claims it generated returns on four out of six investment cohorts.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Nigeria’s SEC granted provisional crypto licences to Quidax and Busha.

• Flutterwave expanded to Uganda after securing Payments license from The Central Bank.

• NALA secured a money remittance license in Uganda. 
• Nigerian fintech Grey partnered with dLocal to drive expansion into new emerging markets.
• Egyptian digital savings startup Menthum partnered with CI Capital Asset Management to launch a USD fixed income fund to elevate the country’s savings and investment landscape.

• Interswitch and Tumatap partnered to launch a contactless payment solution for MSMEs in Kenya.
• Central Bank of Nigeria approved Wapipay to pay inbound remittances into Nigeria.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• Spleet, a Nigerian Startup that provides an alternative to paying rent annually, replaced CEO in early 2024 over claims of ‘misappropriating’ $1.5 Million.

📰 News of the Week

• The US SEC ordered CEO of Nigerian Agri-Fintech Tingo, Dozy Mmobuosi, to pay over $250 million and barred him from serving as a director of any public Company.

The SEC opened an investigation into Tingo Group in 2023 and filed charges against the company and its CEO in December. The company described itself as an agri-fintech and reported millions of dollars in revenue, was listed on the NASDAQ.Tingo Mobile reported cash and cash equivalents of $461.7 million for 2022 in its Nigerian bank accounts, but its actual bank balance was less than $50, the SEC said. Judge Jesse M. Furman of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ordered Mmobuosi and his three US-based entities to pay more than $250 Million in fines.

👀 Eye Openers

• Is founders misappropriating funds a growing problem that is affecting the African ecosystem?

• August 2024: Nigeria-based Fintech Spleet replaced its CEO due to the misappropriation of $1.5 million.
• February 2023: Ghana based Fintech Dash replaced its CEO, and at least $25 million was missing from the company's account. 
• September 2023: Ghana based Fintech Float was defrauded in the unregulated and speculative market it attempted to profit from.Four startups had an estimated $6 million stuck with Float due to those trading losses.

While the misappropriation of funds by founders happens globally, not just in Africa, I would love to hear your thoughts on its impact on the African tech ecosystem. write your comments, which I will publish in next week’s newsletter.

📑 Read of the week

• From InstaDeep to Paystack: Here are Africa’s biggest startup exits and how much they raised. (Techcrunch)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Wasoko and MaxAB finalized “category king” merger, now they want to offer B2B commerce, payments services and more.

• Nigeria's case against Binance drew close to turning point.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Interview with Bongani Sithole, the Co-founder and CEO of Founders Factory Africa (FFA). As one of the largest early-stage investors on the African continent, FFA has made significant strides, investing in over 70 startups in under six years.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

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