this week Finobate Global A look at the latest fintech news from Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country.
Nigerian blockchain network Zone secures investment
last week Finobate Global We just broke the news that Nigerian blockchain network Zone has raised $8.5 million in seed funding. This week we’ll be writing up some of the details of the investment and the company.
Flourish Ventures and TLcom Capital led the oversubscribed seed funding round for Zone. Additionally, VC firms Digital Current Group, Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures and Alter Global also participated in the financing.
Zone spun off from parent company Appzone in 2022 to become the continent’s first regulated payments blockchain network and a standalone company. Zone’s network facilitates direct transactions and automates payments between financial service providers without the involvement of intermediaries. Reconciliation, conflict management. Zone’s technology digitizes fiat payments and enables their conversion to digital currencies.
Obi Emetarom, co-founder and CEO of Zone, highlighted the fact that Zone was able to secure funding during the current investment drought, calling it “a sign of confidence in the Zone brand and investors’ expectations of the opportunity to redefine payments infrastructure in Africa.” “He said.
The company will utilize the new capital to expand its network reach. The Zone currently has over 15 of Africa’s largest banks and fintech companies using the network to process payments.
Afreximbank and Sterling Bank Drive Transformation in Supply Chain Finance
A newly announced partnership between African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Sterling Bank will enable African financial institutions to offer increasingly popular supply chain finance solutions. accounts payable finance, in Nigeria. The solution will be the brand, Afreximbank Tradelink, will be delivered as part of the African Trade Gateway (ATG). ATG provides digital solutions that help businesses access market data, network with buyers and sellers, facilitate trade payments in local currencies between African markets, and more.
Payables Finance, one of the fastest growing trade finance solutions globally, helps suppliers access funds by securing early payment on invoices for which corporate buyers have already accepted payment. The buyer receives trade credit from the supplier. Suppliers finance working capital through early payments received. Financing costs are determined by the buyer’s credit rating, which can be a significant advantage for small suppliers struggling to secure financing at affordable rates.
“Afreximbank identified supply chain finance as a solution to improve access to trade finance in Africa and embarked on a journey to increase penetration through financial interventions and capacity building,” said Haytham ElMaayergi, EVP Global Trade Banking, Afreximbank.
Nigeria-based payment solution Thepeer closes
Bad news from the Nigerian fintech world: Nigeria-based startup Theeper is shutting down and returning all of its remaining capital to investors. Theeper leverages APIs to provide fintechs and other businesses with an alternative network that can facilitate easy movement of funds for customers through a variety of solutions that can be embedded in apps and websites. The company hoped to connect digital wallets across 400 fintechs across Africa to facilitate payments.
Thepeeer secured $2.1 million in seed funding in June 2022. But as the company’s founders acknowledged in a statement earlier this week, Thepeer was struggling to scale, and despite its “unique services” and technology, “there was overall acceptance of the wallet as a viable tool and payment option as quickly as we had hoped.” “There was no increase.”
“We’re hugely grateful to our customers, past and present employees, investors, the tech community, and everyone who has trusted us and contributed to our journey,” Thepeer co-founders Michael “Trojan” Okoh and Chike Ononye wrote on the company’s blog. . “As we chase the stars, we need to regroup and focus on what’s important.”
Finovate’s African Alumni: From Lending Innovation to Certification
The alumni, most of whom are based in Africa, made their Finovate debut in 2018 at a conference in Cape Town, South Africa. Here’s a look at some of the companies based or established in Africa that demonstrated their technology on the Finovate stage.
craft silicone – Established in 2010. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. We provide fintech services and consulting to promote digital innovation, mobile application development, software engineering, and more.
monetization – Established in 2013. It is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. We provide enterprise-level cloud accounting solutions for the legal industry.
Entersect – Founded in 2008 in Stellenbosch, South Africa. We provide transaction authentication services to help financial institutions defend themselves against fraudsters.
lydia – Founded in Lagos, Nigeria in 2016. Provides digital banking services, including bond-based lending products.
Invest – Established in 2017. It is headquartered in Centurion, South Africa. We provide evidence-based hybrid robo-advisors that help individuals create and manage their own investment strategies. It won Best of Show.
True ID – Established in 2017. It is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. We provide a data sharing ecosystem that allows personal financial data to be securely shared between consumers and credit providers.
Yoko Technologies – Established in 2014. It is headquartered in Cape Town, South Africa. We build tools and provide services that help small businesses get paid, operate more efficiently, and grow.
Let’s take a look at fintech innovations around the world.
Central Asia and Southern Asia
- The Reserve Bank of India (CBI) has partnered with Veefin Solutions to support its supply chain finance operations.
- Saudi Arabian fintech EdfaPay has teamed up with Pakistan-based bookkeeping and accounting app Digikhata.
- Sachin Bansal, who co-founded Flipkart, is reportedly seeking $200-400 million in funding for his new startup, Navi.
Latin America and the Caribbean
- FinTech Magazine looked at the rise of Brazil’s Pix payment system and the challenges it brings to the credit card industry.
- Colombian fintech Addi has raised $86 million in a round led by Goldman Sachs and Singapore’s GIC.
- Fintech Nexus featured Brazilian fintech Nubank and its exploration of Mexican partners.
Asia Pacific
- UnaFinancial, a provider of in-app and in-store financial solutions, has unveiled a new lending app for Filipino customers.
- Industry advocacy group Fintech Australian has introduced new CEO Rehan D’Almeida.
- The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has launched a new digital platform. orderlyAllow FIs to share customer data for anti-money laundering purposes.
Sub-Saharan Africa
- Ghanaian fintech Zeepay has completed an equity investment round with participation from pan-African investors Africa50, Oikocredit, Injaro, Verdant Capital Hybrid Fund and I&P.
- South Africa’s Absa Group has encouraged African fintech companies to list their IPOs on local exchanges.
- SC Ventures has entered into a strategic partnership with NEXT176, the investment arm of pan-African financial services group Old Mutual.
Central and Eastern Europe
- Digital banking platform N26 has launched stock and ETF trading products in Germany.
- Lithuania’s new licensing regulations are likely to reduce the number of cryptocurrency companies operating in the country.
- Commerzbank has announced updates to its German payments platform to strengthen its cross-border payments operations.
Middle East and North Africa
- Network International and Souhoola have teamed up to bring buy now, pay later functionality to Networkpay POS terminals in Egypt.
- UAE-based digital bank Zand Bank has partnered with Infosys Finacle Solutions to strengthen its corporate banking operations.
- Selected by Oman Housing Bank Temenos Modernize your core banking platform.
Photo credit: Shelagh Murphy