Every fortnight we compile a list of important news updates and events covering the East African FINTECH, MFGTECH, CLNTECH, and AGRTECH sectors.

For a downloadable copy of Africa’s Issue #50

FINTECH

Airtel Money and Precision Air ink ticket purchase partnership
Airtel Tanzania, has announced a new partnership with Precision Air, currently one of the key players in Air transportation, which will afford Airtel customers and others to purchase Air tickets through Airtel Money wallets.
Isack Nchunda is the AMD at Airtel Money Tanzania

Airtel Uganda offers call minutes to encourage inactive Airtel Money users to use it again
Airtel Uganda has launched a campaign to reward customers who transact using Airtel Money with Free Minutes upon conducting a transaction via Airtel Money. 30 day inactive Airtel Money customers to receive Free 10 Minutes once they deposit Ushs. 1,000 or more on their Airtel Money account.
Njoroge, Henry Kamau is the Marketing Director at Airtel Uganda

Safaricom faces petition to lower M-Pesa charges
Telkom Kenya is seeking regulatory orders through Parliament to compel Safaricom to cut the fees it charges on its mobile money service M-Pesa for cash transfers to rival platforms. The country’s largest telco currently has cheaper rates for transactions among its customers compared to those charged on cross-platform deals, which rival operators reckon is uncompetitive behaviour.
Peter Ndegwa is the CEO at Safaricom PLC

Kenya: Women Dominate Kenya’s e-Commerce Space at 51%
Nairobi — Women have dominated the e-commerce sector in Kenya, standing at 51 percent It was revealed that in Kenya, women were the most active sellers in e-commerce, with 51 percent of them being business owners on the Jumia platform.

Tanzania M-Pesa users share in R33.8m profits
Vodacom Tanzania Plc disbursed profit accumulated on associated Trust Accounts to its over 10 million M-Pesa users, with subscribers receiving their share. The profit is paid to individual customers, retail agents and other M-Pesa business partners based on their wallet transactions and account activity over a stated period.
Epimack Mbeteni is the M-Pesa Director at Vodacom Tanzania

Airtel Africa launches its long-term sustainability strategy,  building on its corporate purpose to transform lives 
Airtel Africa, a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services, with a presence in 14 countries across Africa, has launched a comprehensive sustainability strategy, which sets out its detailed plans to improve the lives of millions of people across Africa through digital and financial inclusion and access to education.

Safaricom, UNICEF Launch Campaign to End Violence Against Children in Kenya
The campaign to aid in creating and spreading awareness about
all forms of violence against children. Its dubbed ‘Spot It, Stop It’ is meant to create awareness on how to keep children safe from both the online and offline world by spotting out the underlying solutions and seeking their possible solutions.
Peter Ndegwa is the CEO at Safaricom PLC

Tala Sets Aside Shs 2mn To Aid Recovery Of Kenyan MSMEs
Fintech startup, Tala Wednesday launched the piloting Jijenge na Tala Rebuild Fund Business Program to help the hard-hit micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to build back better post-covid 19.
Ivan Mbowa is the Managing Director at Tala

CBK revokes mobile payments service provider
Central Bank has revoked one of the only 4 mobile payment providers in Kenya and issued a directive on how Kenyans will get their money. It revoked authorisation granted to Mobile Pay Limited (MPL), brand name “Tangaza” as a mobile Payments Service Provider (PSP), pursuant to the provisions of of the National Payment System Act, 2011.
Oscar Ikinu is the CEO at Tangaza Pesa

Fintech Startup Kwara and Lami Technologies partner to provide insurance products for SACCO members in Kenya
Kenyan fintech startup Kwara has today partnered with insurtech company, Lami Technologies, to provide Savings and Credit Co-operative Society (SACCO) members in Kenya with insurance products.
Cynthia Wandia is the Co-Founder &CEO at Kwara

Nigeria Launches Its CBDC: eNaira
On 25th of October 2021, at the State House in Abuja, Nigeria’s president, formally unveiled the Nigerian Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), known as the eNaira. Following the launch,
fraudsters attempted to steal money from unsuspecting Nigerians as a fake Twitter handle was created offering the sum of 50 Billion eNaira currency.

Ambitious fintech aYo looks to data to drive growth
African Fintech aYo Holdings is transforming its technology back end and data management approach as it gears up to drive greater scale, better customer experience and faster access to markets across the African continent in the coming years.
Marius Botha is the Group Ceo at aYo Holdings

Standard Bank Taps Nigerian Fintech Unicorn to Drive Digital Payments
Standard Bank, one of Africa’s largest banks by assets, has partnered with Flutterwave, a Nigerian fintech unicorn and one of Africa’s leading payments technology companies, to enhance digital payments experiences for its customers in Nigeria, Zambia, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Mauritius, Cote D’Ivoire and Malawi.
Olugbenga GB Agboola is the Founder & CEO at Flutterwave
Margaret Nienaber is the CEO: Client Solutions at Standard Bank Group

Nigerian fintech E-Settlement acquires Ivory Coast’s QuickCash to boost West African expansion
Nigerian fintech startup E-Settlement has acquired the Ivory Coast-based QuickCash to help it expand across a host of other West African countries.
Olaoluwa Awojoodu is the CEO at E-Settlement Limited

Kenya’s Twiga raises $50m Series C round to expand across Africa
Kenyan B2B e-commerce platform Twiga has raised a US$50 million Series C funding round to help it scale its affordable food solutions across Africa. Twiga is a B2B food distribution company that builds fair and reliable markets for agricultural producers and retailers through transparency, efficiency and technology.
Peter Njonjo is the CEO and Co-founder at Twiga Foods

BoG making progress in supporting Fintechs to increase access to finance for PWDs
The Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, has said that the Central Bank is committed to ensuring that persons with disabilities have easy access to financial aid.
Elsie Addo Awadzi is the Second Deputy Governor at Bank of Ghana.

Ghana wants to allow offline payments for its e-cedi CBDC
Ghana is working towards offering its central bank digital currency to citizens without an Internet connection. An official with the Bank of Ghana revealed that the bank is working on a pilot to test the viability of offline payments as it seeks to target the masses.
Kwame Oppong is the Head of Fintech Innovation at Bank of Ghana

Zambia’s Fintech Lupiya gets funding from Google
INSTANT loan application Lupiya has been selected for Google’s first ‘Black Founders Fund’, an initiative started by
the US $2 trillion company in order to promote African founders. Lupiya became famous as the first female-led start-up to raise over $1million in investment last year.
Evelyn Chilomo Kaingu is the Founder & CEO at Lupiya
Muchu Kaingu is the Co-founder at Lupiya