Hi Fintech friends 👋,

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

• African Fintech Unicorn was listed on top revenue startups by World’s most valuable accelerator.
• African Travel Fintech Startup acquired its competitor and expanded to more countries.
• The first ever digital bank was launched in Egypt.
• Energy Fintech company partnered with Mobility company to launch an electric bike fleet in Kenya.
• Nigeria postponed the trial for accusations of money laundering involving World’s largest crypto exchange and two of its executives.
• Three Nigerian Fintechs blocked accounts of customers dealing in Cryptocurrency.

💸Fundraise and Exits

• Kenyan Travel-Fintech Startup BuuPass acquired Nigeria and South Africa-based QuickBus, a bus ticketing platform, in a cash and stock deal.

💰 Venture Funds

• Here are 3 notable Africa-focused funds closed in April 2024:

🚀 Partnerships & Product Launches

• VALR, South Africa’s largest crypto exchange by transaction volume applied for crypto operating licenses in Dubai and Mauritius. The exchange also acquired an authorisation to trade virtual assets in Poland from September 2022.

• Fintech Company Payless Africa Launched Youth-Centric Payment Platform in Kenya.

• Zenith Bank’s fintech subsidiary Zenpay partnered AfCFTA on an innovative trade portal.

• Banque Misr through its subsidiary Misr Digital Innovation obtained a license from the Central Bank of Egypt to launch the first digital bank in Egypt.

• Energy fintech company M-KOPA partnered with on-demand mobility firm Bolt to launch an electric bike fleet in Kenya, aimed at boosting driver earnings and combating climate change.

• South African Fintech Startup Rebranded From Moya Money to Bloo Money.

👔 Leadership Lineup

• A court in Abuja, Nigeria adjourned a money laundering trial against cryptocurrency exchange Binance and two of its executives to May 17.

The adjournment came Thursday after Chukwuka Ikuazom, a lawyer for the exchange, said he had not been served with documents needed to prepare for the case.

Binance and its executives Tigran Gambaryan, a U.S. citizen, and British-Kenyan Nadeem Anjarwalla, are charged with laundering more than $35.4 million and engaging in specialized financial activities without license.

📰 News of the Week

Wave was Africa’s only startup on Y-Combinator’s list of top earners.

For the second year running, Francophone fintech Wave is the only African company listed on Y-Combinator’s top 50 earning startups in 2024. The global accelerator has 92 African startups in its portfolio.

Wave launched its mobile money product in Senegal in 2018 as a challenger to telcos like Orange and Free Senegal, which control 77% of the telco market combined. In 2023, Wave claimed to have 6 million users roughly 75% of the adult population—in Senegal and 10 million users across Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Uganda and Gambia. It recorded 12 billion transactions in Senegal alone in 2022.

Wave has raised over $300 million from investors like IFC, Stripe and Sequoia, and is one of Africa’s unicorns. The startup was founded by Drew Durbin and Lincoln Quirk after they exited for $500 million for Sendwave, their first startup.

👀 Eye Openers

• How should founders respond to the media when reached out to for comment about bad news? The below tweet got attention from many people when the CEO of the Nigeria-based crypto startup, Patricia, blocked a news reporter who had reached out regarding a story they were working on.

Today, we leave this question to you: How should founders respond to the media for bad news? Should they remain calm? Should they let their company spokesperson handle it? Should they do nothing? What is the best way? Leave us a comment

📑 Read of the week

• Inside the business of card payments in Nigeria.(Techpoint)
• The Future of Mobile Money Agents in Africa and beyond. (Substack)

📖 Other News, Reads, and Media

• Three Nigerian fintech startups, Moniepoint, Paga and Palmpay blocked the accounts of customers dealing in cryptocurrency and report those transactions to law enforcement after Nigeria’s National Security Adviser (NSA) classified crypto trading as a national security issue.
• Wasoko denied Rwanda exit as it ramps up hiring across East Africa.
• OPay’s valuation neared $3 billion as Nigeria’s digital payments adoption surges.
• The Bank Of Uganda (BoU) issued a directive that makes ID verification compulsory for all digital transactions amounting to or exceeding $260.

🎥 VIDEO INTERVIEWS/DISCUSSIONS

• Banks in Kenya are increasingly targeting the retail market for growth. Interview with Absa Bank Kenya's Director for Consumer Banking, Moses Musyoka Muthui.

🦉 Tweet of the Week

🎯 Fintech Opportunities

• DPO is hiring for a Merchant Relationship Executive.
• PawaPay is hiring for Country Manager - Mozambique and Angola. 
• Julaya is hiring for Business Developer.

Made in Tanzania 🇹🇿 with 💚

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