Hi Fintech friends 👋,

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

• Two Nigerian Fintechs announced funding deals.
• Nigeria's Central Bank fined two African Fintechs Unicorns $646K each. 
• Africa’s second biggest mobile money planned to acquire a bank license.
• A $40 Million Debt Fund for African Fintechs was launched.
• Nigeria’s oldest bank was hit by a $4.5 Million fraud.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Nigeria’s Juicyway raised $3 million to help businesses solve the FX shortage problem.

• Nigerian fintech Billboxx raised $1.6 million to expand offering invoicing and cash flow solutions to Small and Medium businesses (SMEs).

💰 Venture Funds

• Cauris Finance launched a $40 Million Debt Fund for African Fintechs.

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Palmpay integrated with Jumia to allow customers to pay online from their accounts.
• Egyptian fintech MNT-Halan entered UAE market.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• “They just show up and look at our books,”fintech executives revealed stricter Central Bank Of Nigeria compliance checks.

📰 News of the Week

• The Central Bank Of Nigeria fined Moniepoint and OPay $646K each as Nigeria tightens fintech regulation.

The penalties followed a routine The Central Bank Of Nigeria audit of the fintech sector, which revealed compliance issues. According to two sources familiar with the process, these regulatory checks are a standard procedure for banks and financial institutions under CBN oversight. At least four other fintech companies were similarly penalized, though the details of these fines remain unknown.

👀 Eye Openers

• Mobile Money companies are becoming banks? 

• Most mobile money companies, like M-Pesa, the largest mobile money provider in Africa do not want to become banks for various reasons. But, MTN, Africa’s second-largest mobile money provider, is taking a different approach. It plans to launch a digital bank in South Africa, leveraging its extensive telecom reach to drive financial inclusion.

Should we expect to see more mobile money providers become banks? Share your thoughts in the comments, and we will publish them in the next newsletter.

📑 Read of the week

• Will TANQR solve the fees problem?(John Haule)
• Silence of the Lambs(Ngozi)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• First Bank, Nigeria’s oldest bank was hit by a massive fraud incident that led to the theft of $4.5 Million from customer accounts by unknown persons.
• Nigerian police reportedly arrest bank customers linked to Flutterwave’s $7 Million fraud case.
• Kenyan Fintech Leja Processed $2 Billion in Business Transactions in 2024.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Interview with Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Co-founder of two African unicorns, Flutterwave and Andela, as he shared the biggest mistakes Nigerian startups make.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• Post revenue African startups in Kenya, Tanzania and Rwanda are invited to apply for EUR 100,000 in non-dilutive funding and technical assistance.

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

👍🏽👎🏽  Did you enjoy this edition of This Week In Fintech Africa? Please share your feedback with me on Twitter or LinkedIn .