Author: Akin Naphtal

Nigerian fintech startup Bridgecard has raised a US$440,000 pre-seed funding round to expand its user base and build out its platform. Co-founded by Owumi Festus and Tunde Adewole, Bridgecard merges a user’s cards, bank accounts and fintech wallets into one card and an app, allowing users to perform online transactions, pay bills, and withdraw from any linked account. After a private beta where Bridgecard launched to 120 users and processed over US$70,000 transaction volume within two months, the startup recently launched publicly. It has now raised US$440,000 in pre-seed funding with the participation of the likes of ABV Fund, Ingressive…

Renewal of vehicle particulars, roadworthiness certificates and other vehicle existing documents can now be done with the launch of a platform called ‘Plate Detect’, which is expected to address vehicle documentation in Lagos and Nasarawa States. The ‘Plate Detect’, an innovation of Soft Alliance, is said to create convenience for getting vehicle particulars, and avoiding paying fines as well as getting embarrassed by policemen and various agencies when a car owner is found with incomplete particulars. This can now be seamlessly done with the aid of technology. Speaking on the initiative, product specialist, Saidat Adebule, said the platform was brought…

Safaricom has announced an increase in service revenue of Kshs 281.1-billion, a 12.3% increase from last year’s figure of Kshs 250.4-billion. According to its full financial year for the period 2021/2022 M-Pesa registered a 30.3% year-on-year growth to record Kshs 107.7-billion in revenue, accounting for 38.3% of the service revenue The company has advanced on its strategy is to ensure M-Pesa is accessible to its 30 million customers with the M-Pesa super app registering over 5 million downloads. Over 3 million businesses are also using M-Pesa payment channels in an addressable market of between five and six million merchants. Safaricom…

OPay Egypt, the leading fintech and electronic payments company, has announced the opening of its first “OPay” store in Egypt in the Downtown area in the 5th Settlement, to offer all the company’s services and products for individuals and corporates. The move comes as part of OPay’s expansion plan in the Egyptian market and capitalizes on the success the company has achieved last year through distributing tens of thousands of Points – of – Sale (POS) and increasing its vendors and retailers, becoming the fastest-growing company in the fintech and e-payments market, just one year after its launch in Egypt.…

OPay Egypt, the leading fintech and electronic payments company, has announced that the Central Bank of Egypt has granted it the initial approval to issue prepaid cards through its OPay app. The prepaid cards will be issued with cooperation with the Egyptian Cards Company, the largest card distributer in the local and regional market. OPay Egypt, aims with this new step to provide all electronic payments solutions in the local market. The prepaid cards will allow customers to deposit money in the cards, thereafter use it in cash withdrawals and purchases without having to open a bank account. These cards…

Kenyan startup TopUp Mama, which provides African restaurants with access to supplies, financial services and business management tools, has closed a US$1.7 million seed funding round to accelerate its growth. Founded by Njavwa Mutambo, Emilie Blauwhoff and Andrew Kibe in 2021, TopUp Mama is a one-stop-shop for restaurants in Kenya and Nigeria that provides them with all the necessary supplies, short-term credit and tools needed to manage their businesses. Since raising its pre-seed round 10 months ago, the company has grown by over 1,000 per cent, signed up over 3,000 restaurants, and expanded into Nigeria. It has now closed a…

Nigerian clean-tech plastic waste recycling company Kaltani has raised US$4 million in seed funding to expand its recycling operations across the country. Founded in Nigeria by Engineer Obi Charles Nnanna, Kaltani aims to solve Africa’s growing plastic waste crisis by promoting the circular economy and recycling best practices. The startup has a team of 100 spread across its collection centres, recycling factory and offices, responsible for collecting bottles and other plastic waste which is transported to its collection centres for aggregation and processing, and eventually taken to its recycling factory. At the factory, plastics are then converted into hot washed…

US datacentre owner and developer Flexential has opened its US network to multinational telecommunications firm Angola Cables to assist customers in Africa in connecting to 40 key datacentre hubs across the United States. Flexential provides datacentre colocation, cloud and connectivity solutions. The company owns and operates 40 highly redundant datacentres, seven cloud nodes and manages more than 13,000 cross-connects. The company provides access to Angola’s MONET cable, housed in its Fort Lauderdale datacentre. According to the companies, this partnership will offer customers connectivity via the low-latency, high-capacity South Atlantic Cable System (SACS). They add that the alliance will also address…

New guidelines by the  Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will make it mandatory for  operators and investors in the capital market to digitise all their operations. ”This will help operators harness the huge benefits derivable from the adoption of technology and also manage the attendant cyber-security threats and other risks that accompany the use of technology,” the management of SEC stated Monday in Abuja. The statement by SEC explained that the guidelines capture the Minimum Operating Standards (MOS) for Information Technology (IT) for Capital Market Operators (CMOs). ”It will also positively impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of the Commission…

Egyptian fintech startup Paymob has raised a US$50 million Series B funding round to help it launch new products and expand into additional markets. Founded in 2015 by Islam Shawky, Alain El Hajj and Mostafa Menessy, Paymob is an infrastructure technology enabler providing payment solutions to empower digital financial service providers through mobile wallet technology. The startup, which closed a US$18.5 million Series A funding round last year and recently launched in Pakistan, has announced a US$50 million Series B round, led by PayPal Ventures, Kora Capital, and Clay Point. The round, which also saw participation from Helios Digital Ventures,…