APRIL 19, 2 018

NATIONAL PRESS CLUB

Was hi ng ton D.C.

#AFRICAFINTECHD C

|| CONCEPT NOTE 2018

africafintechsummit.com
CONTENTS
· Africa Fintech Summit 2018
· Who Will Attend
· Program Highlights
· Regulation Advances
· Decentralizing Debt - Kenya
· Sandboxing - South Africa
· Bypassing Inflation
· The Way Forward
2 · Fintech in Africa: · Green Field Banking Development: · One Wallet to Rule Them All:
2 What Makes it Different? 4 The East African Mobile The Need for Mobile Financial
3 · Startup Highlights 5 Payment Revolution 6 System Integration 7
· US/Africa - Mojaloop 7
· The Unbanked vs. The Banked 8
9 · Beyond Money 11 · Country Feature - Rwanda 13 · Accelerating Development 14
9 · Startup Highlights 12 · Health-Care Highlight 13 · Venture Capital Raise 15
9 · Administrative Optimization · African Accelerators 15
10 Highlight 13 · US Fintech VCs in Africa 15
· Mauritius 15
16 · Fintech Market Profile · Fintech Timeline in Africa 19 · List of Accelerators 20
in Africa 17 · List of Initiatives 20
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
 AFRICA FINTECH
SUMMIT 2018
Fintech is disrupting banking, finance, and even
money as we know it. It’s a global phenomenon,
but in Africa more than anywhere, the impact
has the potential to be both socially and eco-
nomically transformative.
Like Africa itself, fintech is young, agile, and un-
encumbered by legacy issues. That combination
means that African fintech is creating unprece-
dented opportunities for business and development.
However, information gaps threaten to mute
this potential. A lack of engagement between
US investors and Africa’s entrepreneurs is an
obstacle for the flow of ideas and capital, while WHO WILL ATTEND
various players within the fintech ecosystem—
from policy makers to innovators—operate • Africa’s top innovators and • Figures from global financial
largely isolated from one another. disruptors institutions, academia, and
The Africa Fintech Summit will address these think tanks
• Venture capital and private
challenges by gathering investors, disruptors,
equity investors • International fintech thought
and regulators from across Africa and the US in
leaders
Washington, DC, on April 19, 2018. •P
 olicy makers and regulators
Join us at the storied National Press Club— from across the continent •P
 olitical leaders from Africa
the day before the spring meeting of the IMF— and the US
•B
 ank and finance executives
to meet the people and ideas driving Africa’s fin-
tech dynamism.
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AFRICA FINTECH
SUMMIT 2018
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS

INTERNATIONAL STARTUPS CURATED PANELS AND CASE STUDIES AND

KEYNOTE ADDRESSES SPOTLIGHT BREAKOUT SESSIONS COUNTRY PROFILES

REGULATION THE BLOCKCHAIN INSURTECH VENTURE CAPITAL

FOCUS OPPORTUNITY AND PRIVATE EQUITY

US-AFRICA BEYOND FINTECH INNOVATION NETWORKING

HIGHLIGHTS BLOCKCHAIN AWARDS EVENTS

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
 F INTECH IN
AFRICA
WHAT MAKES
IT DIFFERENT?
The world of finance is at a tipping point. Tech-
nology advances at rhythms that legacy insti-
tutions, banks, insurers, and regulators find
increasingly difficult to keep up with. In Eu-
rope, North America, and Asia, people speak
of disruption, of a fundamental shift in the role
of financial institutions and even money itself.
Finance professionals lie awake at night won-
dering what new technology might render their
services redundant. Well-established institu-
tions are facing the realization that they must
adapt, adopt, or be left behind.
The reality in Africa is somewhat different. The
continent’s financial institutions are less devel-
oped than in many other regions. Nearly 60% of
Africa’s adults do not have a bank account and
90% of financial transactions are made in cash.
In the end, the fintech revolution in Africa is less
about cutting into the finance pie than it is about
making the pie exponentially bigger, and in the
process transforming economies and lives.
Around 300 start-ups are active in fintech in
Africa today, most of them emerging over the
last three years. The development is so far wide-
spread, with active centers in Southern, West-
ern and Eastern Africa. North Africa, home to a
more established banking system, lags behind in
terms of new products and services.
The usual suspects lead the race in both num-
ber of start-ups and capital raised. South Africa
is the clear leader with around 30% of all start-
ups, followed by Nigeria, Kenya, and Ghana.
So far, most of these ventures focus on
money, more specifically on payments and
remittances, which are the focus of 40% of
all African fintech startups. This is followed
by lending and finance, comprising 20% of
startups. However, more and more companies
are focusing on solutions for business admin-
istration, taxation, insurance, security, educa-
tion, investment and, of course, decentralized
blockchain technology, the parent tech behind
the meteoric rise of digital currencies.
With such strong growth in the fintech sec-
tor, African innovators are also having unprec-
edented access to capital. Between 2015 and
mid 2017, 57 African startups have raised over
$92 million in venture capital (VC) invest-
ments. Over 98% of this was distributed in the
dominant markets of South Africa, Nigeria,
and Kenya, with the great majority of this cap-
ital focusing on start-ups in the payment and
remittances sector.
It stands to reason that the continent’s lack
of infrastructure makes these technologies
much more transformative. While the advent
of mobile banking might make the life of a
Norweigan more comfortable, for example, it
can completely revolutionized the life of a rural
Kenyan without access to bricks-and-mortar
banks.Drone delivery might allow an American
to receive her purchases in a quicker, and ad-
mittedly cooler fashion, but it can be a matter
>40%
of life or death for a Rwandan awaiting a blood
transfusion in an area without a road network.
of all African And a mobile payment platform may facilitate
existing business in Singapore while creating
fintech startups entirely new business opportunities in Ghana.
focus on money, At the same time, Africa’s demographics
make it an ideal destination to combine profit
more specifically
with purpose. Thanks to improved medical care
on payments and high fertility, nearly a quarter of the world
and remittances will be African by 2050. Africa’s young pop-
ulation currently stands at 580 million, four
times that of Europe. And those young Afri-
cans are better educated, more affluent, and
more upwardly mobile than at any point in his-
From 2015 to tory, making consumer goods and specifically
mid-2017, tech incredibly attractive verticles.
57 African Yet capital inflows have room to grow. While
the $92 million in venture capital raised by the
startups raised 57 African start-ups over the 18 months run-
$92 million ning up to May 2017 is impressive, it is only a
speck of the $40.6 billion that startups raised
in VC investment in the United States in 2016. On an average
day, startups in the US manage to raise 20%
more capital ($121 million) than their counter-
parts in African managed in a year and a half.
>98% A better understanding of Africa’s progress
and potential can help to narrow this gap while
of this was
collaboration can faciliate a freer flow of ideas
distributed in and partnerships, allowing Africa’s burgeoning
the dominant fintech sector to grow, prosper, and scale.
markets of South The Africa Fintech Summit serves that pur-
pose—showing, promoting and bringing to-
Africa, Nigeria, gether people that have the potential to trans-
and Kenya form Africa.
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FINTECH IN AFRICA
START-UP HIGHLIGHTS

NOMANINI BITPESA ZEEPAY ZOONA GUST PAY PAGA

South Africa Kenya Ghana Malawi and Zambia South Africa Nigeria
founded founded founded founded founded founded
2010 2013 2014 2009 2012 2009
Enterprise payments Foreign exchange Mobile payments A money transfer A mobile cashless Platform that allows
provider that enables company that company that service in Malawi events service that customers to send cash,
transactions in the converts bitcoins targets the country’s and Zambia that’s allows users to pay purchase airtime, pay
cash-based informal into local African unbanked and not backed by a for goods at selected bills and retailers, and
retail sector. currencies. banked populations. bank or a telco, with stores by connecting more recently, transfer
ambitious plans to through WiFi. money to any bank in
scale. the country, as well as
receive money from
anywhere around the
world on their phone.

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 GREEN FIELD
BANKING DEVELOPMENT
THE EAST AFRICAN MOBILE
PAYMENT REVOLUTION
Banking and financial systems
in Africa are different from
the rest of the world, and
so must be the adoption of
innovation.
Across Africa, people are younger, many
are separated from the banking system, and
growth projections for middle-income fami-
lies are higher than the rest of the world. That
combination of factors is fueling a shift in the
way money moves throughout economies.
A poster example is Kenya’s capital city. Now
dubbed Silicon Savannah, Nairobi has seen a
revolution in terms of innovation and technol-
ogy adoption. And leading the way is M-Pesa,
a service created by mobile network operator
Safaricom that allows account holders to pay
bills, send and receive money, save, and bor-
row, all with just their mobile devices.
In 2006, just before M-Pesa was launched,
26.7% of Kenyans had access to formal finan-
cial service. By 2016 that number had risen to
75%. And tellingly, 93% of the population are
registered with an M-Pesa account.
M-Pesa quickly branched out to neighboring
countries where the need for mobile banking
services were equally great. Today, M-Pe-
sa serves over 25 million people across three
continents.
However, one model doesn’t fit all. M-Pe-
sa’s entry in South Africa, with its developed
financial infrastructure, was significantly less
successful, underscoring the importance of
understanding unique market needs.
Regardless, M-Pesa gave birth to a vibrant
fintech industry across the continent. Its busi-
ness model was quickly copied by other mobile
operators in Africa and globaly. Today 180 mil-
lion Africans have mobile wallets, three times
the number of mobile-wallet holders in the
US. And growth shows no signs of abating.
As our research shows, adapting is not
only possible, but it is the only way to
ensure that the promise of fintech is
enjoyed by everybody.
CHRISTINE LAGARDE
President of the International Monetary
Fund, IMF Blog
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 ONE WALLET TO RULE THEM ALL
THE NEED FOR MOBILE
FINANCIAL SYSTEM INTEGRATION
Since the advent of M-Pesa, the economic
opportunities of “banking the unbanked” have
become more than aparent—to telecom op-
erators, banks, governments, foreign investors,
and entreprenuers alike. And the pace of Af-
rica’s fintech adoption shows no rate of slow-
ing. According to estimates based on current
rates, in three years every African will have a
mobile wallet.
As different operators launch similar prod-
ucts in their dominant markets, however, a com-
patibility problem has emerged. In most cases,
mobile money account holders are limited to
exchanging money with users of the same type
of mobile wallet. Payments across borders, for
instance, remain very limited. Bridging the com-
patibility gap would bring immense potential for
growth, particularly in the e-commerce sector.
Some solutions for this issue have already
started to emerge. In Tanzania, the four tele-
com operators have made it so that their wal-
lets are fully interoperable. One of these oper-
ators, Tigo Pesa, has moved a step further into
the realm of conventional banking becoming
the first such operator to pay interests (which
is in fact a form of profit sharing) to its cus-
tomers based on their account balance.
US/AFRICA - MOJALOOP
To answer the problem of in-
teroperability of mobile wallets
in Africa, Dwolla, a Des Moines
payments network, and Ripple,
a blockchain network based in San Francisco,
have partnered with the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation as well as with some local start-
ups to develop a system that allows operators
to securely and easily connect different mo-
bile wallet networks. Mojaloop was launched
in October 2017 with open source code, so
all operators are free to use the system, either
partially or in its entirety, to help integrate pay-
ments and other services with different wallets.
“Moja” is Swahili for “one.”
Real opportunities in the digital
revolution currently underway await not
only further application by the private
sector, but also greater utilisation
by financial regulatory authorities.
As innovations bring down costs,
significant transformation of the financial
intermediation landscape cannot be
discounted or dismissed. Leading
innovators know how to turn disruption
into opportunity.
LESETJA KGANYAGO
Governor of the South African
Reserve Bank
at the Cybersecurity Conference, Johannesburg,
August 23, 2016
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THE UNBANKED
PERCENTAGE OF
vs. THE BANKED PEOPLE AGED 15
AND OVER WITH
AN ACCOUNT
AT A FINANCIAL
INSTITUTION

1.8 - 18.4%

18.5 - 40.6%

40.7 - 40.6%

63 - 87.4%

87.5 - 100%

no data

globally
2 BILLION
ADULTS
REMAIN UNBANKED

48.8% ofan adults do not have

account at 5.4% ofmobile
adults in Sub-Saharan Africa use a
money account and nothing else 17.9% of adults in low-
income economies
a financial institution compared with the global average of 1% have a debit card

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
 REGULATION
ADVANCES
Regulating the fintech sector is tricky busi-
ness. Governments around the world have had
uneven and, at times, contradicting approach-
es to the application of emerging technolo-
gies in the financial sector, particularly in the
blockchain-based world of digital currencies,
like Bitcoin or Ethereum.
In Africa, most governments have lagged
behind in addressing fintech’s growth but some
have shown strength and awareness. After
some initial wariness, Nigerian regulators have
publicly stated that they will not interfere with
the use of cryptocurrencies in the country, al-
beit warning their citizens on the inherent risks
of investing in such volatile markets. Kenya and
Uganda have followed suit in developing reg-
ulatory frameworks for the advent of digital
tokens.
While cyrptocurrencies have taken off glob-
ally, their implications for Africa are particularly
profound. Digital currencies, for example, can
significantly reduce the cost of remittances, an
important source of income in many African
economies. At the same time, blockchain’s dis-
tributed ledger systems could revolutionize land
ownership in countries where this is a gray area.
But one thing is certain: these outcomes will re-
quire proactive and well-defined regulation.
DECENTRALIZING DEBT - KENYA
It is no surprise that the leading
African nations in terms of fintech
development and adoption are at
the forefront of regulation as well.
In the summer of 2017, the Kenyan govern-
ment issued the world’s first blockchain-based
decentralized soverign bond. Instead of using
brokerages or other intermediaries, citizens
were able to purchase these bonds, called
M-Akiba, directly from the state using a mo-
bile phone app. Developed with the backing
of the World Bank, M-Akiba sold out its $1.5
million issuance two days before the sale was
scheduled to end.
REGULATORY SANDBOXES
- SOUTH AFRICA
A leader in fintech legislation,
South Africa has started to
experiment with regulatory
sandboxing.
Sandboxing allows companies to experiment
with new products and services directly on the
open market in a free but supervised way. It
streamlines R&D and product testing while
allowing a quicker development to market pro-
cess.
This has the benefit of allowing companies to
test services and products with real customers
while giving a clear view to regulators of what
legal limits should be set, how best to tax the
product, and where consumer protection may
be necessary. The South African government
sees this model as a good balance between al-
lowing creativity to flourish and restricting in-
dustry abuse.
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REGULATION
ADVANCES

[The Central Bank of Nigeria] cannot
stop the tide of waves generated by the
blockchain technology and its derivatives.
Currently, we have taken measures to
create four departments in the institution
that are looking forward to harmonize the
white paper on cryptocurrency.
Currently in the sandbox is Bankymoon, one
of South Africa’s biggest and most popular fin-
tech startups, who recently partnered with the
South African Reserve Bank to trial new regu-
latory structures.
BYPASSING INFLATION AND
BUMPING INTO SPECULATION
- ZIMBABWE
beyond the average value in the rest of the
world. In October, as Bitcoin broke through
the $6000 barrier globally, it was trading at
over $10000, a 66% premium, on Golix, Zim-
babwe’s only cryptocurrency exchange.

One of the most interesting

MUSA JIMOH
The Deputy Director and Head
of Payments System Policy and
Oversight at the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN), on the Bank’s
intention to develop its own
cryptocurrency (September 27, 2017)
developments in 2017’s African
fintech scene has been the sky-
rocketing adoption of Bitcoin by
local investors in Zimbabwe. Years of hyper- Lack of infrastructure and
inflation have erroded confidence in the local
currency and drained the central bank’s for- weak economic development
eign exchange reserves. The local response has are not barriers to the
been to hoard gasoline, food, medical supplies
implementation and adoption
and most recently Bitcoin as storage of value.
This has caused a surge in demand for Bit- of these technologies.
coin in the country, driving the price up much

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 BEYOND
MONEY FINTECH STARTUPS FINTECH STARTUPS PER COUNTRY
PER REGION
SOUTH AFRICA
94 NIGERIA
74 KENYA
56
Money is very much at the center of fintech 31.2% 24.6% 18.6%
developments in Africa, with payments, re-
mittances, lending, and financing dominating
the startup world. However, other, more niche

18 12 12
areas are gaining traction, with equal poten- GHANA UGANDA EGYPT
tial to impact lives. Around 45 start-ups now
focus on streamlining business administration,
18 dedicate themselves to insurance technol- 6% 4% 4%
ogy, 4 target education, and 15 are focused on
issues of security and identification. Another
niche market that has seen strong investor in-
terest has been blockchain-based startups, of
which there are 18 across Africa (with half of
those in South Africa). According to research,
CAMEROON
5 TANZANIA
4 RWANDA
4
the blockchain fintech subsector in Africa has
been the most successful in attracting venture
34.2% SOUTHERN AFRICA
5 countries 1.7% 1.3% 1.3%
capital to fund its operations. 38.9% of block-
chain startups have succeeded in securing
funding since 2015.
34% WEST AFRICA
5 countries
These ventures are using the decentral-
ized architecture of the blockchain network
to address issues that decades of aid capital
26.2% EAST AFRICA
6 countries
ZAMBIA
4 SENEGAL
3 OTHER
15
and development programs could not, and are 1.3% 1% 4.9%
combining social development with profit.
5.6% NORTH AFRICA
5 countries

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BEYOND MONEY
STARTUP HIGHLIGHTS:
Examples of what can be achieved when profit meets purpose
South Africa - Sun Exchange
South African start-up Sun Exchange works as
a blockchain peer-to-peer exchange market-
place where the user can purchase solar power
cells and lease them to businesses in areas of
the world with high solar exposure, mainly Af-
rica. The cells are purchased from the startup
that then uses them to power hospitals, facto-
ries, schools, and other end users, attempting
to bridge the power generation gap in many
parts of Africa. Sun Exchange arranges month-
ly lease rental collection and distribution, pay-
ing the leaser in local currency or Bitcoin.
South Africa – Regenize
Regenize is a startup focusing on recycling
services. It charges a monthly fee to collect
people’s waste for recycling and then re-
wards the act with a virtual currency that can
be used on Regenize’s platform and traded
for a variety of goods. The number of tokens
given to users depends on the weight of the
waste collected by Regenize from each indi-
vidual user. The start-up combines education
programs with a recycling structure, e-com-
merce and tokenization, an important devel-
opment in a country where waste management
continues to represent a difficult challenge.
United States/Africa – BEXT360
The Denver-based bext360 is using blockchain
technology to allow coffee buyers to trace the
origin of coffee grains and promote fairness in
the coffee agricultural industry. The company
developed an automated robot that is deployed
in the field and evaluates the quality of the cof-
fee grains based on size and quality, and auto-
matically estimates the amount that is spoiled.
The robot then links the results to crypto to-
kens that track the batch through its life span.
United States/Africa - Ovamba
In another example of North American co-
operation with African markets, Ovamba is a
Washington-based start-up that focuses on
developing online platforms and mobile ap-
plications to serve small & medium enterpris-
es (SMEs) in emerging markets. It focuses
particularly on South Africa, Cameroon, and
Mauritius but should soon expand to Ghana,
Senegal, and Sudan. In August 2017 it part-
nered with Microsoft to develop the first Af-
rican language driven “chat-bot,” which is
aimed at helping millions of companies across
the continent gain greater financial literacy
and navigate the world of financial services.
Kenya – Pula
Kenyan startup Pula is tackling the approx-
imately 1.5 billion uninsured and unbanked
Africans by using new technologies to create
solutions to protect farmers from increasing-
ly unpredictable climate conditions. Working
with Fortune 500 companies, global NGO’s,
microfinance institutions, research institu-
tions, and governments, Pula already covers 8
countries in Africa and has facilitated crop and
livestock insurance coverage to over 400,000
farmers.
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 COUNTRY FEATURE
- RWANDA
While acknowledging the traditional centers of
innovation on the continent, the Africa Fin-
tech Summit is also looking towards new rising
stars who are experiencing profound transfor-
mations due to fintech developments. Rwanda
is such an example.
As in Kenya, Rwanda has largely adopted
mobile wallets for money transfers, with in-
Approximately 90 to 95% of
Rwandans now enjoys banking
services, most through their
mobile phones rather than
through traditional banks.
novation being driven by the telecom provid-
ers. There are three major mobile operators
in Rwanda, and each has launched successful
payments and remittances prodcuts. MTN,
which hold 40-50% of the market, has MTN
Mobile Money. Tigo, with 30-40% of the
markets, has Tigo Cash. And finally Airtel, with
15-20% of the market, has Airtel Money.
Going one step further, MTN has created
MoKash, a service available that allows MTN
Mobile Money customers to take loans and re-
ceive interest on their savings using the mobile
structure.
These products are the driving force behind
an exponential growth in access to banking
services in recent years. Approximately 90 to
95% of Rwandans now enjoys banking servic-
es, most on mobile phones rather than through
traditional banks.
Another development is the result of a US,
Swiss, and Rwandan collaboration. Wisekey, a
Swiss cybersecurity company, has partnered
with Microsoft and the Rwandan government
to migrate the country’s land registry onto a
blockchain structure. By digitizing land regis-
try and structuring it on an incorruptible ledg-
er structure within a blockchain network, the
Rwandan government will create a transparent
and publicly verifiable system to register prop-
erty, aiming to bring a new age of exchange of
assets and value, enforcement of contracts,
and sharing of data across industries.
It will also allow for a secure historic registry
of all transactions and value exchanges, mak-
ing sure that the record of every transaction is
never lost and is easily verifiable. In a region of
the world where most public registries are still
done on paper, this represents a monumental
advance.
Another well-know fintech connection be-
tween Rwanda and the US is VugaPay, found-
ed in 2015 by two college-age brothers. Af-
ter presenting their app at Face the Gorillas,
a Rwandan IT pitch series, Patrick Muhire and
Cedrick Muhoza received mentorship and
$20,000 for 10% equity from two VC go-
rillas. The exposure led them to a subsequent
investment from Silicon Valley angel investor
Tim Draper. Today VugaPay is Rwanda’s largest
mobile money startup.
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 ACCELERATING 2015
DEVELOPMENT 79

2016
65

Venture capital investors and accelerators are

looking toward Africa with increasing interest.
The AIA Accelerator in Hong Kong, Fintech
Fusion in Geneva, the OBCB Accelerator
in Singapore, and the DFS LabFintech in Sri
Lanka are only a few of the startup accelera-
2014
tors developing operations on the continent.
Compared to the UK and Asia, however, the 36
US is relatively underrepresented. 2012
Over the last few years, native venture cap- 28 2013
ital centers have also emerged on the African 26
fintech scene, largely in South Africa, Nige-
ria, and Kenya. Bithub in Nairobi, Sasware in
Lagos, and the Barclays Accelerator in Cape 2017
2011
Town are strong examples of a growing con- 14
2009 12
sciousness amongst African investors of the 9
potential held within the fintech sector, and 2010
the list is likely to expand quickly in the years 2
to come.

NUMBER OF AFRICAN FINTECH STARTUP LAUNCHES

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
ACCELERATING
DEVELOPMENT
FUND-RAISING HIGHLIGHT
Branch International
Branch International, a San Francisco-based
startup focused on bringing digital financial
services to Sub-Saharan Africa, raised $9.2
million in March 2016 from venture capital
firm Andreessen Horowitz. The company’s
product will include using the data gathered
through clients spending practices to auto-
matically evaluate who is likely to be a reliable
borrower and provide credit lines within the
minute of request.
Zoona
Focusing on international money transfers in
Malawi and Zambia, start-up Zoona underwent
a B funding round which raised $15 million for
the company’s expansion plans in Mozam-
bique, the DRC, and West Africa. The Inter-
national Finance Corporation (IFC), a mem-
ber of World Bank Group, led the round which
saw funding coming from a number of dif-
ferent VC firms, including Cape Town-based
4Di Capital, which invested an unconfirmed
amount of capital in the company.
ACCELERATOR HIGHLIGHT
South Africa - AlphaCode
AlphaCode is one of the most active venture
capital hubs for fintech startups on the conti-
nent. Native to Johannesburg, the hub was es-
tablished by Rand Merchant Investment Hold-
ings, which, in a public statement, admitted
the establishment of the hub was a recognition
of the undeniable relevance fintech startups
were gaining across the continent. AlphaCode
is mandated to actively seek, support, and fund
new and disruptive business models with the
potential to scale and sustain growth.
US IN AFRICA HIGHLIGHT
Digital Financial Services Lab
A rare example of North American accelerators
and VC investors focusing on the African fin-
tech scene is the Digital Financial Services Lab.
Backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Founda-
tion, the initiative is an early-stage accelerator
for fintech startups in developing countries,
particularly in Africa. It aims at building inclusive
digital economies by supporting new fintech
developments through mentorship, advice, and
investment in scalable transformative business
models that empower the poorest, while main-
taining a focus on profitability.
CRYPTO HIGHLIGHT -
MAURITIUS
Building an Ethereum Paradise
One of the most recognizable Ethere-
um-based startups, Consensys, is establishing
an Ethereum hub on the island of Mauritius.
The company entered in negotiations with the
Mauritius government in July 2017 and aims to
build up a broad-based technology center on
the island. Consensys expects to benefit from
light regulation while actively contributing to
the development the country’s economy and,
potentially, an “Ethereum paradise.”
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 THE WAY
FORWARD
While fintech has seen rapid development in
recent years, several factors point to the fact
that the sector is still very much in a position of
accelerated growth.
In 2016, the amount of capital raised by fin-
tech startups increased 84% compared to the
previous year. Likewise, 2017 is estimated to
more than match the previous year’s record.
With an infrastructure funding gap in the
hundreds of billions of dollars and a rapidly
growing middle class, Africa is a ripe playground
to test new ideas and technologies that can im-
pact the lives of millions and produce compa-
nies worth billions.
South Africa, Nigeria, and Kenya will not
always dominate the sector in such an over-
whelming manner. Other nations across the
continent are starting to wake up to the gigantic
business potential of fintech. Governments are
moving in to facilitate that process, while edu-
cated young people are inspired by pan-African
stories of success and entrepreneurism.
In 2016 Jumia became the first homegrown
African “unicorn,” valued at $1.1 billion. It is very
unlikely to be the last.
Nowhere else are technological and eco-
nomic needs so striking and investment op-
portunity so evident as in Africa. Nowhere else
is the funding gap so big; nowhere else is the
sector so underexplored. Out of Africa’s 54
countries, only 20 have so far demonstrat- between Jan 2015 - May 2017 9 OF THOSE
ed any activity in the sector. Seven of these 57 AFRICAN FINTECH COMPANIES
countries are home to more than 90% of all
start-ups.
STARTUPS RAISED RAISED TWICE
European and Asian tech investors are only USD93 MILLION during that time
now looking at the opportunities looming on
the African horizon. On the other side of the
Atlantic, Silicon Valley seems to continue to The majority of the funding raised went to:
shine a blinding light to investors. The op-
portunity to enter the market is here, and it SOUTH AFRICA
is now. The potential of fintech to bank the 59.5% | USD55.1m
unbanked, to spur economic growth, and to KENYA
introduce new business models and technol- 8.5% | USD7.9m
ogies where there were none before is almost
infinite. It is impossible to say what the future
holds, but for the fintech sector in Africa, it
NIGERIA
looks very bright indeed.
30.5% | USD 28.2m
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 Business Admin Personal Finance Security and ID

Payments and Remittances Insurtech Education

FINTECH MARKET
PROFILE IN AFRICA Lending and Financing Blockchain Investtech

South Africa Nigeria Kenya Ghana Uganda

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 Business Admin Personal Finance Security and ID

FINTECH MARKET Payments and Remittances Insurtech Education

PROFILE IN AFRICA Lending and Financing Blockchain Investtech

Ivory
Egypt Cameroon Zambia Senegal Coast Zimbabwe Tanzania Morocco Ethiopia Rwanda Mozambique Algeria Tunisia Namibia Sudan

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FINTECH TIMELINE
IN AFRICA
'14
Feb 24 - US/Africa
The BitGive Foundation
launches bitcoin fundraiser
for The Water Project.
Jun 20 – South Africa
South African venture capitalist
Llew Claasen is named Bitcoin
Foundation’s executive director.
Jul 12 – South Africa
Absa Bank, a subsidiary of Barclays
Africa, joins R3 Blockchain consortium. Internet Group raises $83m in equity sale.
Aug 26 – South Africa
Custos Media Technologies, which
fights piracy using blockchain
technology, announces a fundraising
round of $420,000.
Oct 21 – South Africa
South African banks push ahead with
plans to test blockchain applications.
Jun 28 – Africa/Australia
Australian bitcoin payments
startup BitPOS teams
up with the International
Anti-Poaching Foundation
May 20 – South Africa (IAPF) to help save Africa’s
Africa’s first Bitcoin ATM is endangered wildlife from
launched in Johannesburg. hunters.
Mar 7 – Ghana
Ghana-based IT solutions firm Ghana
Dot Com (GDC) launches a bitcoin
mining facility it claims is the first in
Africa. Mar 10 – South Africa
South African online
Feb 18 – Nigeria marketplace Bidorbuy enables
Nigeria’s e-commerce startup Africa bitcoin purchases through an
integration with BitX.
Jan 1 –Senegal
Senegal announces intention
to release its own national
cryptocurrency.
'17
Feb 1 – Kenya
African Bitcoin payments startup
BitPesa successfully raises $2.5m
in Series A funding.
Jul 18 - South Africa
PayFast enables bitcoin
access to over 30,000
online merchants, adding it
as a payment option to its
platform.
Jul 20 – Sierra Leone
An alliance of local African
free-market pioneers that
formed to promote bitcoin’s
economic benefits puts its
campaign on hold to join the
fight against Ebola.
Multinational bitcoin platform BitX
raises $4m in a funding round led by
'16
A Bitcoin-dedicated academy opens up
at the Bandwidth Barn in Woodstock,
May 18 – South Africa
Africa-focused cryptocurrency exchange
Bitkoin.Africa launches in Nigeria.
Jul 21 - South Africa
South African Reserve Bank and
Bankymoon conduct trials on country’s
cryptocurrency regulations.
Aug 19 – Benin
BlinkTrade introduces
exchange UbuntuBitX based
in Benin and serving users in
throughout West Africa.
Feb 9 - Kenya
'15
Oct 10 – South Africa Kenya-based bitcoin services
Partnership between provider BitPesa raised $1.1m
Wallettec and BitPay in funding led by Pantera
brings bitcoin POS Capital and including Bitcoin
payments to retailers. Opportunity Corp.
Jun 21 – South Africa
the Naspers Group.
Jun 8 – US Africa
The Bill and Melinda Gates
Aug 17 – South Africa Foundation awarded bitcoin
startup Bitsoko $100,000 to
help troubleshoot Africa’s now-
Cape Town. ubiquitous mobile money systems.
Aug 24 – South Africa
South Africa’s central bank
says it’s “too risky” for the
institution to launch its own
cryptocurrency.
Aug 22 – United States Oct 2 – Nigeria
eBay opens US platform to Africa-focused cryptocurrency
Africa with MallforAfrica. exchange Bitkoin.Africa launches
com partnership. in Nigeria.
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LIST OF ACCELERATORS
AlphaCode | Johannesburg
Barclays Accelerator
Cape Town | Applications open November
Barclays Accelerator
Tel Aviv | Applications open August
Barclays Accelerator
New York | Applications open April
Barclays Accelerator
London | Applications open July
Startupbootcamp Fintech
Cape Town | Applications open April
Startupbootcamp Insurtech
London | Applications open August
Startupbootcamp Fintech
London | Applications open March
AIA Accelerator
Hong Kong | Applications open August
Village Capital, PayPal Fintech
Accelerator | Applications open Q3 2017
DBS Accelerator
Hong Kong | Applications open August
BitHub | Nairobi
Fintech Fusion
Geneva | Applications open May
Standard Bank Accelerator
| Johannesburg
F10
Zurich | Applications open March
MasterCard StartPath
Virtual | Applications open April
Fintech Hive at DIFC
Dubai | Applications open April
DFS Lab Fintech
Sri Lanka | Applications open January
AUC Venture Lab Fintech Accelerator
Cairo | Applications open August
SuperCharger FinTech Accelerator
Hong Kong | Applications open September
1864 Accelerator
Cairo | Applications open June
Global FinTech Hackcelerator
Singapore | Applications open July
OCBC Accelerator | Singapore
Sasware | Lagos
LIST OF INITIATIVES
SOUTH AFRICA EGYPT
Barclays | Barclays Accelerator Barclays | 1864 Accelerator
Standard Bank | Standard Bank Accelerator,
GE healthcare accelerator, The Playroom RWANDA
Absa | Absa Centre of Entrepreneurship Bank of Kigali | Urumuri Initiative
FNB | Business Innovation Awards
Nedbank | Nedbank Fintech and Big SENEGAL
Data Challenge BNDE Bank | Partnership with CTIC Dakar
KENYA PAN-AFRICAN
Barclays | Product Lab, Supply Chain European Investment Bank/African
Challenge Chase Bank | SME Biz Hubs Development Bank | Boost Africa
Citibank | Mobile Challenge World Bank | XL Africa
KCB Bank | Makueni Loan Fund Ecobank | Fintech Challenge
NIGERIA
Bank of Industry | Venture Capital Fund
Sterling Bank | Youth
Entrepreneurship Development
Programme Union Bank | Centenary
Innovation Challenge
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