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Nigeria Plans to Include Fintechs in Broadened Official Currency Market
26.10.2023
A Nigerian official recently said the foreign exchange-starved country plans to include “legitimate” market participants like bureaux de change and financial technology companies in the official forex currency market. Finance Minister Wale Edun also said the country will receive...
Custodia Bank Goes Live: Bridging Digital Assets With US Dollar Payments
12.8.2023
Custodia Bank, the financial institution that aims to bridge digital assets with the U.S. dollar payment system, is now live. Last month, Custodia started serving external business customers in select U.S. states, offering U.S. dollar deposits and government money market fund services, with bitcoin...
Study: 40% of Surveyed African Banks See Fintech and Telcos as ‘High Threats’
20.5.2023
About 40% of 153 African banks surveyed by the latest African Banker annual report said they regard “fintechs and telcos as high threats,” while 69% see artificial intelligence as the “most important technology shaping the industry in the near future.” According to...
Saudi Central Bank Says Ongoing CBDC Experiment Focused on Domestic Wholesale Use Cases
27.1.2023
Saudi Arabia’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) experiment, which is being carried out in conjunction with local banks and fintechs, is presently focused on domestic wholesale uses cases, the central bank has said. Meanwhile, the Saudi Minister of Finance has said CBDCs can be...
Fintechs Accounted for Over 30% of Tracked Kenyan Tech Startups in 2022 — Study
7.1.2023
As of November 2022, Kenyan fintechs accounted for 30.2% or 93 out of the 308 tracked tech startups, a Disrupt Africa study recently found. In addition, the study findings show that the fintech sub-sector alone accounted for 3,100 or 27% of the 11,462 people that were employed by tech startups...
Report: Chipper Cash Valuation Dropped to $1.25 Billion After it Secured Additional Funding From FTX
10.12.2022
After Chipper Cash ended 2021 as one of Africa’s most valued fintechs, the FTX-backed startup’s valuation dropped from $2 billion to $1.25 billion after it reportedly received a $35 million simple agreement for future equity (SAFE) grant from the now-collapsed crypto exchange FTX....
Report: Zimbabwe Proceeding With Digital Currency Plans, Central Bank Undeterred By Slow Adoption of Nigerian CBDC
3.11.2022
Undeterred by the reported slow adoption of the Nigerian central bank digital currency, the deputy governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Innocent Matshe recently said his institution will proceed with plans to launch its own digital currency. In addition to sending a team to learn from...
US Tennis Player Serena Williams’ VC Firm Leads Ugandan Fintech’s $12.3 Million Pre-Series A Funding Round
2.10.2022
The Uganda-based digital lending fintech startup, Numida, has said it will start offering its services to micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises in other African countries. Numida’s plans to offer its services to businesses beyond Uganda’s borders came shortly after it...
Crypto Payment Infrastructure Firm Opennode to Test Bitcoin Payments in Bahrain
18.9.2022
Opennode, a bitcoin payment infrastructure firm, recently said it will run trials of its bitcoin processing and payout solution through the Central Bank of Bahrain’s regulatory sandbox. According to Dalal Buhejji, an executive director with the Bahrain Economic Development Board, the central...
DeFi Platform Credix Raises $11.25M to Connect Institutional Lenders With Emerging Market Fintechs
6.9.2022
The decentralized credit marketplace will use the capital to expand beyond Brazil
Reserve Bank of India preparing to trial a CBDC with public sector banks and fintechs
5.9.2022
The trial may lead up to the introduction of a CBDC in India before the end of this fiscal year, most likely in three steps; U.S.-based FIS is reportedly participating
Speculators and Crypto Traders Blamed for Naira’s Plunge, Kenyan Institutions Told to End Dealings With Nigerian Fintechs, CAR Token Sale off to Slow Start
4.8.2022
In this week’s Africa news highlights, the Nigerian central bank blames speculators for causing the local currency’s plunge to a new all-time low on the parallel market. In Kenya, the central bank has told financial institutions to cease having dealings with two Nigerian fintechs...
Kenya Central Bank Orders Financial Institutions to Stop Dealing With Two Nigerian Fintechs
1.8.2022
In a letter addressed to the CEOs of financial institutions, the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) has said financial institutions operating in the country must cease and desist from dealing with two Nigerian fintechs, Flutterwave and Chipper Cash. The letter reiterates the CBK governor Patrick Njoroge...
Report: IMF Warns Kenyan Central Bank Against Introducing a CBDC That Harms Fintechs and Banks
29.7.2022
The global lending institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has told the Kenyan central bank that its proposed digital shilling must “do no harm” to existing private sector digital money. The lender insisted the proposed central bank digital currency (CBDC) must “not...
Nigerian Central Bank Governor Says Fintechs and Cryptos Change the Way Financial Systems Function
19.7.2022
The Nigerian central bank governor and bitcoin critic, Godwin Emefiele, recently remarked that the rise of fintechs and cryptocurrencies among other technologies have forced banks and financial institutions to change the way they operate. According to Emefiele, this requires the central...
Report: Nigerian Crypto Restrictions and Twitter Ban Have ‘Crippled Foreign Direct Investment in the Fintech Industry’
10.5.2022
A new report has concluded that restrictions on cryptocurrency trading, as well as the banning of Twitter by Nigerian authorities, may have “crippled foreign direct investment in the fintech industry.” Foreign Direct Investment ‘Crippled’ A new report has found that...
Nigerian Fintech Founder: ‘African Fintechs Have a Greater Scale Potential Than Other Tech Startups’
9.5.2022
The African fintech industry has grown rapidly over the past few years and this has caught the attention of some well-resourced venture capital (VC) firms. As one would expect, Nigerian fintech startups have dominated the continent in terms of funds raised or the number of transactions performed....
Fintechs See Strongest Payments Challenge From Stablecoins and CBDCs, Not Bitcoin: Cowen
29.3.2022
The team at Cowen recently held fireside chats with executives from PayPal and Visa, among others
Qatar Central Bank Studying Digital Banks and CBDCs
18.3.2022
Qatar Central Bank is presently examining the possibility of issuing a digital currency as well as digital bank licensing, an official has said. The official adds this study will help the central bank get an understanding of what its area of focus should be. The Growing Significance of CBDC...
Report: Africa Fintech Startups Raised $2 Billion in 2021
15.3.2022
Africa’s fintech startups are reported to have raised $2 billion in the past year alone. This amount dwarfs the $231 million that was raised in the year 2020. Nigerian startups continue to account for the biggest share of funds raised by the continent’s fintechs in 2021. 2021...