An employment tribunal case has placed Kuda Technologies, one of Africa’s fastest-growing digital banks, under scrutiny over allegations of workplace discrimination, harassment, and wrongful dismissal. Rosemary Hewat, Kuda’s former Group Chief People Officer (CPO), filed a complaint accusing the company and its CEO, Babatunde Ogundeyi, of sex discrimination, victimization, and unfair dismissal. According to the…
Category: Africa
Affinity, affinity africa, Africa, digital banking, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, hybrid
Ghanaian fintech Affinity bags $8M to scale digital banking in a mobile money-driven market
Africa’s top digital banking platforms typically dominate high-growth, populous markets like Nigeria, South Africa, and Egypt. But Affinity Africa, an upstart from Ghana, wants to join the conversation. The startup has raised $8 million in seed funding to expand its financial products further across the country, where mobile money is the dominant financial tool. While…
Africa, Exclusive, Fintech, freelancers, Global Security News, payments, QED Investors, raenest, Startups
QED leads $11M investment in Nigerian fintech Raenest
As Africa’s tech ecosystem booms, more local talent is landing remote jobs with Big Tech firms and global startups. But getting paid remains a challenge for many of these freelancers and remote workers. They struggle to open accounts that accept US dollars, with foreign employers using incompatible payment platforms, and face slow invoicing and payment…
Africa, Exclusive, financial super app, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, Khazna, Middle East, saudi
Egypt’s Khazna banks $16M for its financial super app and expansion into Saudi
A large portion of Egypt’s population lacks access to traditional banking, forcing many to rely on cash transactions and informal lending. Khazna, a fintech startup founded in 2019, is tackling this issue by offering financial services tailored for low- and middle-income workers. The company provides solutions like salary advances, digital payments, and microloans to help…
Africa, cedar money, cross-border payments, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, QED Investors, stablecoins
QED seeds $9.9M in Cedar Money, a stablecoin payment platform
The newest generation of startups aiming to solve cross-border payments are focusing on stablecoins — cryptocurrency coins often pegged to actual currencies or other commodities to help them keep stable prices — to build solutions that work faster and often cheaper than classic financial rails. This trend is also driving a surge in investor interest…
Africa, Global IT News, Global Security News, Kovi, latin america, mobility fintech, Moove, ride-hailing, Transportation
Uber-backed mobility fintech Moove acquires Brazil’s Kovi, takes ARR to $275M
Uber-backed Moove, an Africa-born mobility fintech that offers vehicle financing to ride-hailing and delivery app drivers across six continents, has acquired Kovi, a Brazilian urban mobility provider. The value of the deal is not being disclosed, but Moove confirmed it was an all-share transaction, and Kovi is now wholly owned by Moove. Moove co-founder and…
Africa, cauridor, cross-border payments, Fintech, Francophone Africa, Fundraising, Global IT News, Global Security News
This fintech has a fix for the biggest cross-border payments issues in Francophone Africa
Until a few years ago, it used to be difficult to make payments across borders almost anywhere in the world. But it’s still a big problem in Africa, where fragmented, disconnected systems, high fees, and poor infrastructure make it tough for businesses and individuals to move money quickly and affordably. The majority of people and…
Africa, contactless payments, Exclusive, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, investment, moniepoint, visa
African fintech Moniepoint gets Visa backing, plans to work on contactless payments
Visa has joined African fintech Moniepoint as a new investor. The business banking and payments platform confirmed to TechCrunch that it received a “strategic investment” from the global payments giant as both companies look to drive financial inclusion and support the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa. Sources close to the deal…
Africa, Egypt, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, MENA, MoneyHash, payment orchestration
MoneyHash, which provides single access to payment services in MENA, banks $5.2M
When merchants or companies launch online, they typically start by partnering with one or two payment processors. But as they grow and expand into new regions, they often need to onboard additional payment partners to meet different customer (and sometimes regulatory) needs, a process that comes with some hurdles. That’s given rise to companies to…
Africa, fund return, Global IT News, Global Security News, moniepoint, Oui Capital, Startups, Venture
How African VC firm Oui Capital returned its first fund with Moniepoint’s unicorn exit
At a recent investor meeting, early-stage African investor Oui Capital informed limited partners that it had returned its $4 million debut fund following the sale of some shares in the business banking platform Moniepoint. The African fintech unicorn has so far proven to be a standout investment for five-year-old Oui Capital. When it launched its…
Africa, clothing resale, Commerce, FARO, Fashion, Global Security News, recommerce, secondhand
Fast-growing South African venture FARO raises $6M to source, refurbish and sell surplus clothing
Global fashion brands grapple with excess inventory. ASOS, for instance, had over £1.2 billion of unsold products in 2022. Mostly, these brands avoid reselling in core markets like the UK and the U.S. to prevent market cannibalization. Meanwhile, emerging markets like Africa heavily rely on secondhand clothing imports, but 30% to 40% of these items…
Africa, Asia, Emerging Tech, Fintech, Global Security News, lemfi, remittance
LemFi moves remittances further into Asia and Europe with $53M in new funding
For many emerging market economies, remittances have become a lifeline. Inflows surpassed $669 billion in 2023, according to World Bank research, and they now represent significant portions of GDP in these countries, often outpacing foreign direct investment as the primary source of foreign exchange. Traditional banks and agents maintain a firm grip on the remittance…
Africa, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, MNT-Halan, moniepoint, Opay, TymeBank, Wave
Africa’s newest fintech unicorns are winning by keeping their feet on the ground
Africa’s tech ecosystem just got a boost of attention, with South Africa’s TymeBank and Nigeria’s Moniepoint both raising funds in recent weeks at valuations of over $1 billion and joining the coveted unicorn pantheon. But those valuations don’t just reflect investor confidence. They signal the success they’ve had in taking disruptive fintech models originally developed…
Africa, Crypto, Fintech, Global IT News, Global Security News, juicyway, stablecoin, Startups
This stealthy African stablecoin startup already processed over $1B in cross-border payments
Juicyway, an African fintech that leverages stablecoin technology to power fast and cheap cross-border payments, is launching out of stealth after processing over $1 billion in transaction volume for thousands of African businesses over the last three years. The fintech claims to have processed over 25,000 transactions, generating $1.3 billion in total payment volume (TPV)…