Hi Fintech friends 👋,

It has been a slow week with less Fintech announcements, here are the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week;

• We placed a bet on Africa’s soon-to-be unicorn fintechs.
• Tanzania's biggest payments Fintech started piloting its first ever Neo Bank in the country.
• VC firms shared their top advice for African early-stage portfolio startups in 2025.

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This Week in FintechSabrina Baxter

💸Fundraise and Exits

• No fintech deals were announced this week, but let’s take a look at African startups. The ecosystem raised $2.2 billion in 2024, down from $2.4 billion in 2022.

💰 Venture Funds

• Focus on cash management in 2025, VC firms told early-stage portfolio startups.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Tanzania’s biggest payments fintech, Selcom started piloting its first-ever Neo Bank in the country.

• Remittance Fintech LemFi expanded to Europe.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• What African founders can learn from personal assets as collateral for failure: Lessons from China’s startup ecosystem.

📰 News of the Week

• African 2025 Soonicorn Fintechs.

Which African fintechs might become unicorns in 2025? We’re placing bets on these two and would love to hear your predictions as well.

M-Kopa; just December Techcrunch reported that ‘the pay-as-you-go asset financing platform(that offer smartphones and other “productive assets” through flexible digital micropayments) that has grown on the strength of a 30,000-strong team of direct salespeople and now serving 5 million underbanked Africans, is racing toward a major milestone: surpassing an annual revenue rate of $400 million by year-end’. 

Moove; The Uber backed Fintech Mobility startup which is valued at $750 Million offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers.The has $115 Million annual recurring revenue and operates in 13 cities across six markets, including Nigeria, South Africa, Ghana, the U.K., India and the UAE.

Which African fintechs will become unicorns in 2025? Share your predictions, and we will publish them in our next newsletter.

👀 Eye Openers

• How much Nigerians pay to withdraw cash from POS agents.

📑 Read of the week

• 25 startups to watch in 2025, according to Africa-focused VCs.(Techcabal)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Kenya sought public participation on a crypto bill after the IMF warned against risks.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Interview with Muchu Kaingu, co-founder and CEO of Lupiya, one of Zambia's most promising fintech startups. Lupiya is on a mission to make financial inclusion a reality by providing collateral-free loans to women entrepreneurs.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• Applications open for 4th Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator. Apply 

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

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