Fintech Archives - Page 17 of 19

29Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech

Mobile Money Accounts Grow to 1.2 Billion in 2020

GSMA has published last week its annual 'State of the Industry Report on Mobile Money'. It reveals a dramatic acceleration in mobile transactions during the COVID-19 pandemic as lockdown restrictions limited access to cash and financial institutions. The report found that the number of registered accounts grew by 13 per cent globally in 2020 to more than 1.2 billion – double the forecast. The fastest growth was in markets where governments provided significant pandemic relief to their citizens. Providing more opportunities in the formal economy To minimise the economic toll of COVID-19, many national governments distributed monetary support to individuals and businesses. The value of government-to-person payments quadrupled during the pandemic, with the mobile money industry working han...

22Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech

The Rise Fund to invest $200 million in Airtel Africa’s mobile money business, at $2.65 billion valuation

Airtel Africa to explore potential listing of mobile money business within four years. Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, announced on 18th March the signing of an agreement under which The Rise Fund, the global impact investing platform of leading alternative investment firm TPG, will invest $200 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (“AMC BV”), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Airtel Africa plc (the “Transaction”). AMC BV is currently the holding company for several of Airtel Africa’s mobile money operations; and is now intended to own and operate the mobile money businesses across all of Airtel Africa’s fourteen operating countries. The Transaction values Airtel Africa’s mobile money business at $...

17Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Ukheshe Technologies and Infobip collaborate to create SA’s first WhatsApp payment gateway

Leading digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies, together with Infobip, a global cloud communications platform that enables businesses to build connected customer experiences across all stages of the customer journey at scale, have developed South Africa’s very first WhatsApp payment gateway for use by Telkom, one of the country’s largest mobile operators. In addition to being South Africa’s first digital wallet platform, the solution is also the first WhatsApp channel to enable payments using QR. The project and collaboration with Infobip forms part of Ukheshe’s objective of expanding its international reach as a solution driven B2B provider of digital-first payment solutions that enable banks, telcos and fintechs to provide banking and payment services to their customer...

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Tech

Less Than 30% Of Telcos In Africa and the Middle East Have Developed a Strategy for Digital Transformation

- Telcos in the region lag behind the rest of the world significantly in developing roadmaps to digitalize sales channels. - More than 70% of telcos in LATAM and Europe already have established roadmaps, and more than 80% of telcos in APAC have a digitalization strategy. Fewer than three in 10 telecommunications operators in Africa and the Middle East have established a digital transformation roadmap, putting the region far behind the rest of the world when it comes to monetizing digital sales channels. That’s according to a new report from the Technology Innovation Council commissioned by mobile technology specialists, Upstream. The report, titled “The Road to Digital”, provides a cutting edge glimpse into how telco operators around the world are preparing for digitalization during a glo...

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Democratic Republic of the Congo, Events, Fintech, Startups, Tech

The Democratic Republic of Congo to Host its First Smart City Conference

The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) will be hosting the country’s first Smart City conference which will be taking place virtually from 16 to 18 April 2021. Driving this is Congo Bulaya, a subsidiary initiative of the Centre d’Innovation de Lubumbashi (CINOLU), which aims to actively participate in the creation of more competitive and vibrant cities in the DRC. Themes to be explored include The Role of Public Policies, Youth and Civic Participation in Sustainable and Inclusive Human Settlements; Industrialisation for the City of the Future; Governance and Education for All; Urban Resilience; The Role of Research in the Development of Resilient Cities; and Gender Issues, Balance and Inclusiveness under SDG 11. These will be unpacked during roundtable discussions, workshops and focus grou...

Efficient Payment Solutions Essential for SME Survival

14Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Efficient Payment Solutions Essential for SME Survival

Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) have long been hailed as the lifeblood of the economy. Now, in the wake of the COVID-19 crisis, they are critical for its recovery. Not only do they contribute 35-50% of national GDP globally, they also drive over two-thirds of new job creation[i]. Ultimately, the more SMEs succeed, the better our economy performs. However, their success – and survival – hinges largely on cash flow management. This is according to Francois Hamer, Business Development Lead at Pay@ - a leading payment aggregator and provider of secure payment solutions. With cashflow management being the reason why 82% of small businesses fail[ii], Pay@ has developed Yap – an electronic bill presentment and payment tool for on-the-go invoicing and payment requests, specifically for ...

2021 will demand continued user experience and change management focus according to e4

9Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, Tech

2021 will demand continued user experience and change management focus according to e4

A dogged commitment to change execution is how businesses will survive in 2021, according to Grant Phillips CEO of fintech specialist, e4. He says the Covid-19 pandemic wreaked industry-wide havoc, the headwinds of which will continue to blow for years to come, leaving businesses in an almost permanent state of evolution and change. “Despite the negative impact of Covid-19 we have seen several unique responses to the extraordinary challenge it created. This has led to many new opportunities and with it, ingenuity and creativity across several sectors. Macro-economic responses like interest rate management, changes in consumer buying behaviour, reduced local and global mobility, and a worldwide shift to low/no touch engagement all have very different, but marked impacts on many industries g...

9Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

South African Fintech enabler, Ukheshe Technologies, confirm global expansion

Leading South African digital fintech enablement provider, Ukheshe Technologies has confirmed it is expanding its operations internationally. Having established itself as a formidable payment technology specialist within the B2B sector, the company has set its sights on the Middle East, Europe and Asia Pacific. The move comes on the back of several successful high-profile projects and partnerships in various African countries including Kenya, Zimbabwe, Zambia, Namibia, Nigeria, Malawi, Botswana, Angola, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Mozambique, and Ghana. In addition to collaborating with numerous blue-chip banks, telcos and fintechs, Ukheshe has built strong alliances with Mastercard while acquiring two companies and raising just under R100m within a two-year pe...

Immense impact of 4IR technologies on African economies to be addressed through South African lawyer’s World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution fellowship

24Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Immense impact of 4IR technologies on African economies to be addressed through South African lawyer’s World Economic Forum’s Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution fellowship

Ashlin Perumall, Senior Associate at Baker McKenzie in Johannesburg, South Africa, has taken up the role of Fellow at the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution (C4IR) in San Francisco. As part of his C4IR Fellowship, Perumall has joined the blockchain and digital currency working group, working on the legal and policy considerations surrounding central bank digital currencies and stablecoins. Perumall was chosen to join the C4IR last year, from a wide range of global firm submissions. Perumall states that his reasons for taking up the fellowship are based on the immense impact the 4IR will have on the emerging African economies, ranging from the changing nature of work, to the impact of AI technologies and the future of digital currencies. “The developme...

Telephonic payment solution helps companies deal with Covid-19 challenges

18Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News

Telephonic payment solution helps companies deal with Covid-19 challenges

VerPay enables verbal commerce as businesses adapt to serve their customers in contactless ways The novel Coronavirus has necessitated the need for a sharp step change across nearly every facet of daily life; which has, in turn, rendered the payments landscape ripe for innovation. “The pandemic has forced us all to do business in new ways, and not all companies have the means - or inclination - to go completely online", says Dana Buys, CEO of VerPay Pty Ltd, a Cape fintech company that specialises in cloud-based payment, "Many consumers still prefer dealing with a person, as opposed to solely an app or website.” VerPay™, allows merchants to do business whilst speaking to a customer, making it ideal for the hospitality, ret...