Hi Fintech friends 👋

Before we dive into what happened in African Fintech this week, let's take a step back and recap some of the events that occurred in African Fintech throughout the year 2023.

💸 Fundraise

• South African challenger bank TymeBank raised $77.8 Million. TymeBank claimed to be recording a revenue run rate of over $100 million annually as its business across South Africa and the Philippines is growing at 300,000 new customers monthly. The startup has over 7 million customers.

• Kenya based M-KOPA raised $250+ Million debt and equity for its asset financing platform. M-KOPA claimed to have provided over $600 million in cumulative credit for its underbanked customers via a network of over 10,000 agents; 52% of these agents are women.

• South Africa based Peach Payments raised $31 Million to power digital payments in Africa. The startup experienced exceptional growth in recent years, with revenue increasing more than 650 per cent since 2020, and 80 per cent in 2022 alone.
• Nigeria based payment service provider Nomba raised $30 Million, the round, which valued the company at $150+ Million.Over 300,000 businesses from the three segments use at least one Nomba powered product, and according to fintech, it processes $1 billion in monthly transactions.

🤝 Merger and acquisitions

• Nigerian credit-led Fintech FairMoney acquired PayForce.The transaction was a cash and stock deal in the range of $15 million to $20 million.
• Nigerian Crypto exchange startup, Bitmama acquired Remittance startup Payday. BitMama reportedly offered PayDay investors $1 million worth of equity in the crypto company at a $30 million valuation.

⚰️ Shut Down

• Dash, Ghana based Fintech founded in 2019 and raised over $50 million shut down due to fraud and mismanagement of funds. Dash’s financial records revealed that Dash’s CEO had inflated and overstated the number of users and that at least $25 million was missing from the company’s account.
• Pivo Africa, a Nigerian-based Neobank for SMEs that raised $2.5 Million from prominent investors like Y-Combinator shut down due to founder conflicts.
• Nigerian startup Lazerpay, which raised $1 Million to build a blockchain-powered solution that enabled businesses to accept payments shut down after failing to secure the necessary funding for survival.
• Zazuu, a payment marketplace for remittance services that raised over $2 Million shut down after failing to secure funding. 

💰 Venture Funds

• African based VC, Founders Factory Africa whose portfolio include Kenyan’s Fintech Lipa Later raised $114 Million to back more African startups. 
• Norrsken22, a Pan-African venture capital firm whose portfolio include African Fintechs TymeBank and Shara raised $205 Million to invest in Growth stage African startups.

💼 Layoff

Chippercash laid off employees for the fourth time, Kippa laid off 40 employees, Cellulant laid off 20% of its 634 employees, Copia laid off 25% or 350 members of its workforce and Paystack laid off employees in Europe and Dubai.

💣 Cyber hacks

Hackers stole $6.3 Million from Flutterwave accounts, Patricia lost $2 Million in a security breach, and Interswitch lost $40 Million in a chargeback.

Dear Fintech friends 👋

Now, let us dive into the highlights of what happened in African Fintech this week.

• Two African pre-unicorns merged to double down on African commerce.
• The Central Bank of the largest populated African country removed restrictions on cryptocurrency transactions.
• Two Fintech deals worth over $1 million were announced, including one acquisition.
• A $110 million fund was allocated for African startups.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Nigeria’s Jenesys AI secured $1.1 million pre-seed funding to boost global B2B payments
• Bumpa acquired a Toronto-based startup Fyyne  to expand into new markets.

💰 Venture Funds

• Al Mada Ventures allocated $110M fund for Africans by Africans

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• Bloc launched a business banking platform specifically to the needs of tech-savvy businesses across.
• As Central Bank Of Nigeria lifted ban on crypto transactions, Quidax launched free deposits and withdrawals.
• Yellow Card sought an exchange license after Nigeria lifted the crypto ban.

📰 News of the Week

• MaxAB and Wasoko Began Africa’s largest tech merger.

Two African e-Commerce and Fintech service providers for traditional retailers, the Egyptian B2B e-commerce startup MaxAB and Wasoko, a Kenya-based e-commerce player with operations in Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia, are going to merge operations.

MaxAB raised over $100 million (including a $55 million Series A and $40 million pre-Series B) last year while Wasoko raised $125 Million last year at a post-money valuation of $625 million.

MaxAB said it has connected suppliers with over 150,000 unique traditional retailers in this food and grocery supply chain across Egypt and Casablanca. Meanwhile, Wasoko claims to serve over 200,000 informal retailers across its six markets. Both companies also offer financing products to the merchants they serve.

📑 Read of the week

• 2023 wrapped: lessons, fears and hopes from 23 tech leaders (Techcabal) .

• Venture Capital in Africa: Investment trends and forecasts (Techcabal) .
• African startups are trying to localize cost (benjamindada) .

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• SEC charged Tingo Group CEO Dozy Mmobuosi with massive fraud .

• Nigeria’s Central Bank removed a two-year restriction on cryptocurrency transactions.

• Cowrywise, the YC-backed Nigerian fintech app laid off five employees.
• Chippercash might be profitable in 2024.
• Pezesha asked a Kenyan court to liquidate Marketforce’s assets over an unpaid debt.

• Bitmama resumed deposits.
• Central Bank of Lesotho restored interbank transfers eight days after a cyberattack.
• According to Google trends, Nigerians now have more interest in stablecoins than Bitcoin.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Innovating Africa Documentary: The Rise of Tech in Nigeria.

Produced by Peace Itimi, The Rise of Tech in Nigeria tells the growth story of the tech scene in Nigeria over the last 15 years. Through raw interviews, it paints a vivid picture of the struggles & triumphs of the industry's early days.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• Fair Money is hiring for Compliance Manager.
• Yoco is hiring for Money Laundering Reporting Officer.

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 .