Mark Mwongela, CEO of Pesapal told the media, “We are delighted to have this authorisation by the CBK. We will continue to enable payments for merchants and consumers.” Founded in 2009, the company provides a simple, safe and secure way for people and businesses to make and accept payments in Kenya.

The company’s primary objective is to democratise payments by providing affordable, innovative, and customised payment solutions to businesses and consumers alike. Currently, the company operates in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Rwanda.

Pesapal also brings together local mobile money payment methods, Visa, MasterCard and American Express. By connecting once, customers can have access to all for both online and over the counter payments.

In 2019, Pesapal announced the integration of Samsung Pay, Apple Pay, FitBit Pay and Google Pay payments on its new tap-and-go, contactless Sabi M010 terminals. Since then, a large number of business owners in East Africa have been conveniently accepting digital wallet payments from their customers as more consumers look for cashless options.

The vision of the company is simple. It aims to become Africa’s safest and most convenient way to pay and get paid. In future, the company also intends to lead as a reliable Payment Service Provider in Africa which offers digital financial services to individuals and businesses.

Image credit: Pesapal

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The proceeds from the funding is expected to support the startup’s efforts in expanding across Africa. Users can use its services to send and receive money within its coverage area, media reports said.

The startup’s services is currently available in Ghana, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda and Nigeria. Chipper Cash said in a statement, “We are going to be introducing a Chipper for Business suite of services that will allow you to use Chipper to pay for goods or services using your Chipper wallet at merchants that accept the Chipper as a payment method or through mobile websites or apps that are approved to offer Chipper as a payment option. If available, the option to pay using Chipper will appear as a Chipper-branded payment button at checkout. When we introduce this service, we will notify all our users and promote it accordingly.”

Chipper Cash is a venture capital-backed fintech established in 2017. The startup is focused on building software to enable peer-to-peer cross-border payments in Africa. It is reported that Chipper Cash is the first platform to offer instant cross-border mobile money transfers across the continent.

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However, funding in the Nigerian fintech sector decreased by 21.8 percent when compared to 2019. Investments in other sectors such as logistics, transport, ecommerce, agritech, and healthtech saw substantial growth.

Reportedly, there are around 210 to 250 different players in the Nigerian fintech startup landscape.

According to Frost and Sullivan, a business consulting firm involved in market research and analysis, and corporate training across multiple industries, Nigeria’s fintech revenue is expected to reach $543.3 million in 2022 from $153.1 million in 2017.

Nigeria’s fintech sector also received funding from various global investors in 2019. According to the 2019 African Tech Startups Funding Report, the number of investors in African tech startups jumped grew by 61 percent in 2019 to reach 261.

According to the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of the Pan African University, Nigeria will lead the growth in non-cash transaction volume across Africa. The EDC further revealed that non-cash transaction is expected to reach 17.8 percent of total transaction volume in 2023 from 4.7 percent at the end of 2018. This is attributed to the development of Nigerian fintech startups.

Nigeria also established itself as the African capital for fintech investment and digital finance startups. Nigeria toppled Kenya which earlier held the top spot due to its mobile money revolution which was led by M-Pesa.

The report also pointed out that African tech startups as funding grew by 47 percent when compared to 2018. Also, the number of startups has increased by 50 percent during the same period. A total of 311 tech startups across Africa amassed $491.6 million in funding last year.

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My-iMali secured the funding from Crossfin, a company that invests in fintech solutions to enable growth for economies in Africa.

The startup allows its customers, who are mostly from the lower-income group, to carry out financial transactions anywhere in the world without paying any monthly fees. It also facilitates businesses with an affordable, safe and convenient channel for salary distribution.

After securing an investment from Crossfin, My-iMali joins the likes of wiGroup, iKhokha, Crossgate and Nobuntu in Crossfin’s fintech focused portfolio.

According to Anton Gaylard, co-founder and chief operating officer at Crossfin, the decision to invest in My-iMali is based on the product, its place in the market and the strength of the team.

Anton Gaylard told the media, “While My-iMali operates locally, for now, there is a clear need for this type of solution in other African countries. We will work closely with the companies in our portfolio to identify and unlock opportunities for growth, both locally and abroad. We have looked at similar solutions in the past, but have rarely seen one that works end-to-end and fills such a clear gap in the South African financial ecosystem.”

He added, “We’re working across the portfolio to establish a cashless economy in Africa that brings more people into the formal economic fold by giving them access to affordable, convenient and value-adding financial services.”

Earlier in the month of September, My-iMali also raised around $1.6 million through a crowdfunding campaign. According to reports, the fund is being used by the startup to expand its business.

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Payment gateway Innovate I Pay is a leading fintech players in the African continent and one of the first African fintech startups to enter Dubai and the Middle East. Besides being the only distributor of foreign currency to Bureau de Change (BDC) operators in Northern Nigeria, it provides services such as international money transfer and foreign exchange management.

According to estimates, by 2040 Africa will surpass India and China to be the biggest job market. Meanwhile Dubai, as a symbol of its friendly relationships with African nations, has reformed its visa procedures for African nationals. The renewed visa process has increased the number of African immigrants who come to UAE in search of good jobs.

African payment gateway fintech Innovate 1 Pay has entered Dubai, keeping in mind the expanding African population in UAE which has increased as result of the renewed visa procedures.

Innovate I Pay chairman, Mahmoud Ahmadu told the media, “With the maturing of financial markets in Africa, we have expanded our presence to a total of 56 countries currently, and with the promise that the new UAE visa regime holds for African professionals, we believe the prospects for growth in addressing this demographic is very promising indeed.”

Innovate I Pay is licenced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. There have always been strong ties between UAE and the African countries. The fifth edition of the Global Business Forum on Africa is to be held in Dubai. The forum is expected to forge strong economic co-operation and better economic relationships between Africa and UAE.

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Chipper Cash plans to expand beyond its current operations in  Ghana, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda in the coming year. The African fintech startup also plans to foray into the global remittance market for Sub Saharan Africa which is estimated to be worth at least $38 billion.

Chipper Cash is based in San Francisco with offices in Ghana and Nairobi. It offers no-fee, peer-to-peer cross border mobile money payments in Africa. According to its CEO, Chipper Cash has processed 250,000 transactions for more than 70,000 active users.

The African fintech startup was founded by Ugandan CEO Ham Serunjogi with Majid Moujaled, a Ghanian. Liquid 2 Ventures was founded by US football legend Joe Montana, who took a personal interest in investing in the Africa growth story.

Chipper Cash plans to use revenues from Chipper Checkout and income from payment volume float to support its no-fee mobile money business, TechCrunch reported. According to Serunjogi the fact that Chipper Cash settles money transfers across Africa in real time is a key value proposition for the African fintech startup.

Africa has a number of mobile money products including Kenya’s M-Pesa, MTN’s Mobile Money in Ghana and Tigo Pesa in Tanzania. However, mobile money transfers across product platforms, currencies, and borders are difficult to execute due to issues with interoperability.

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