INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
month saw $360 million invested in Nigerian-focused payment ventures
That is equivalent to roughly one-third of all the startup VC raised for the entire continent in 2018, according to Partech stats.A notable
valuation after Visa took a minority stake in the company
Interswitch offers a number of personal and business finance products, including its Verve payment cards and Quickteller payment app.The
financial services firm has expanded its physical presence to Uganda, Gambia and Kenya
The Nigerian company also sells its products in 23 African countries and launched a partnership in August for Verve cardholders to make
A source close to the matter said the company will list on a major exchange by mid-2020.For the near to medium-term, Interswitch could stand
in Nigeria and the broader continent.PalmPay, a consumer-oriented payments product, went live last month with a $40 million seed round (one
entered a strategic partnership with its lead investor
20 million phones.PalmPay also launched in Ghana in November and its U.K
announced several days after the PalmPay news and came only months after the mobile-based fintech venture raised $50 million.Founded by
-developed internet-based commercial products in Nigeria
These include ride-hail apps ORide and OCar and food delivery service OFood.With its latest Series A, OPay announced it would expand in
trucking logistics company Lori Systems in November.With OPay, PalmPay and Lori Systems, startups in Africa have raised a combined $240
million from 15 Chinese investors in a span of months.There are a number of things to note and watch out for here, as TechCrunch reporting
This new digital phase will certainly add a fresh component to all that
One thing to track will be data-privacy and national-security concerns that may emerge around Chinese actors investing heavily in African
such as Huawei.As OPay and PalmPay expand, they may need to do some reassuring of African regulators as countries (such as Kenya) establish
finance in Africa before Nigeria.Shifting back to American engagement in African tech, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey was on the
mean in terms of concrete partnerships, investment or market moves in Africa from Dorsey and his companies.
He visited Nigeria, Ghana, South
his tweet and news highlighted in this roundup, a good bet would be it will have something to do with fintech and Square.More Africa-related
