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

FINTECH Roundup

Safaricom retains top position as the most valuable firm in the region, The East African.
Kenya’s listed telco Safaricom topped the region as the largest company by market capitalization and net earnings yet again this year, even as the Covid-19 pandemic hit listed firms, wiping out shareholder earnings and pushing away foreign investors.

WorldRemit Partners with Vodacom Tanzania, via Tandaa Biashara.
Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit has partnered with Vodacom Tanzania to enable nine million M-Pesa customers to receive money directly to their M-Pesa wallets from friends and family living abroad.

Window opens for Safaricom in its quest to enter Ethiopia, via Daily Nation.
Ethiopia has made an official invitation to foreign telecoms operators to buy into Ethio Telecom, the country’s monopoly provider. A window that could see Safaricom finally enter Ethiopia has opened after the country finally put up for sale a 40 percent stake in the stated-owned company.  

Mobile money witnessing record growth in Rwanda, via Tech in Africa.
The value of funds sent out via Mobile Money in Rwanda has increased by 450% in the first quarter of 2020. Records from the Rwanda Utilities Regulation Authority show a $42 million transaction volume, occasioned by a sharp decline in the use of cash when paying for their goods and services.

Mobile deals in lowest rise since the launch of M-Pesa in Kenya, via Business Daily.
Payment deals settled through mobile phones and tablets in the first three months of the year rose at the slowest pace in Kenya, in the history of the globally acclaimed innovation, shown by official statistics.

The Ghanaian Government launches 3 new policies to speed up digital payments, via Ghanaian Times.
The government has launched three new policy initiatives designed to deepen financial inclusion and accelerate digital payments in line with its vision of building a payment system that accelerates economic development.

SA Fintech startup Peach Payments raises funding to drive expansion across continent, via   Disrupt Africa.
A Cape-Town based fintech startup that enables businesses to easily accept payments on their websites and mobile apps, has raised an undisclosed amount of growth funding to drive its expansion from Kenya and Mauritius to now across Africa.

Nigerian fintech startup, Carbon launches a social banking service, via Disrupt Africa.
Consumer lending platform, Carbon which rebranded last year as a parent company OneFi, has launched Carbon Express, a keyboard extension that allows customers to access their services from within whatever app they are using.

Techstars backed startup launches cryptocurrency payments gateway for Africa, via IOL.
Toronto and Lagos based fintech company Fliqpay, today announced the launch of its cryptocurrency payment gateway which allows African businesses to accept cryptocurrency payments from anywhere in the world and get settled instantly in their local currency bank account.

Nigerian startup Voyance launches fraud monitoring platform for fintechs, via Disrupt Africa.
Nigerian data science startup Voyance, launched in Lagos, has launched Sigma, a fraud monitoring platform for fintech companies that aggregates data in order to block fraudsters.

Johannesburg Fintech to Launch an All-in-one Video Conferencing App, via IT News Africa.
Johannesburg-based Cassava Fintech International (CFI), a subsidiary of Econet Global, has announced the release of ‘Sasai TeamTalk’, a voice and video conferencing service that takes up to 20 people on one call.

Ripple partners with Ghana fintech firm Waya to bolster instant payments across Africa, by Cryptoslate.
Ghana’s Waya Money a digital “challenger” bank has seemingly teamed up with Ripple to bring instant cross-border settlements to millions of Africans in three countries if a recent update on the former’s site is considered.

Mobile money becomes lifeline as telecoms thrive in Covid-19 era, via The East African.
Mobile money and data have emerged as the lifeline in revenue growth for African-focused telecoms operators Vodacom Group and Airtel across markets characterized by stiff competition and challenging regulatory regimes.

Corona cuts high value M-Pesa transactions by Sh1.2bn daily, via Business Daily.
Daily average mobile money transactions for deals above Sh 1,000 each dropped 18.4 percent in the period Kenya imposed coronavirus movement restrictions, highlighting the impact of the infectious disease on workers and the cash flow business.

Airtel, MasterCard to Develop Financial Services for Retailers, SMEs, via Gizbot.
Airtel has tied up with MasterCard and announced that it will be offering banking facilities to all farmers, SMEs, and retailers for the aim of developing financial solutions. Airtel Payment Bank has also joined hands with 500,000 banking points for this scheme.

Zimbabwe vows more siege on mobile money transfer service providers, via New Zimbabwe.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor, John Mangudya has reiterated the apex bank’s resolve to tighten screw on mobile money transfer service providers accused of failing to deal with rampant illicit trade on foreign currency through their platforms.

Motorcyclists in Rwanda to use meters and cashless payments from June, via techcabal.
AS an effort to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, Rwanda Utilities Regulatory Authority (RURA) announced that all motorcycle taxi operators will return to the streets of Kigali but are all required to use meters and only cashless payments such as MTN MoMo or Airtel money when charging their clients from June 1.

AGRTECH Roundup

COVID-19 accelerates digital transformation of African agriculture value chains, via Xinhua net.
In Kenya, as in many other African nations, digital solutions including websites, social media platforms and specific apps are now at the center of the East African nation’s and have been accelerated by the outbreak of COVID-19, with all actors in the agricultural value chains embracing them to foster social distancing and beat restrictions embraced by governments to curb the spread of the disease.

Naspers ploughs R100 million into South Africa Agritech business, via Business Tech.
Aerobotics, a subscription-based artificial intelligence (AI) company providing intelligent tolls for the agricultural industry to manage its crops, has received an investment of R100 million from Naspers through its early stage business funding initiative, Naspers Foundry.

Online Service to Boost Crop Production and Trade in Tanzania, via Daily News.
In a bid to improve crop trade in the country, the government has launched online crop marketing to unite farmers, traders and buyers across the country through launching an online marketing, a portal to also serve as a platform for education on extension services.

Upcoming Events

FinBank Innovation Conference & Expo 2020, via Finbanking Innovation.
The platform will cover professionals from payments, retail, fintech and insurtech to discuss new ideas about digital transformational in financial ecosystem. You will hear more from thought leaders across Africa and the globe and new technologies from prestigious tech startups.