African Banks Jump Into Fintech Startups And Bitcoin To Ride The Prevailing Headwinds
African banks, behind the times with fintech, could actually become pioneers in developing new financial technologies like the blockchain and bitcoin. Because these banks largely left it up to telecom companies to assume the role of financial service providers in parts of Africa, the banks are now investing in digital currency startups, according to Quartz Africa. The question is how long will it take. Mbwana Alliy, a managing partner at the Savannah Fund, a technology venture company, said a headwind of fintech disruption is blowing from Europe and Silicon Valley into Africa. Blockchain....
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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.
Nigeria’s Burgeoning Fintech Scene
This dominance has convinced VCs to pour tens of millions of dollars into different Nigerian fintech projects. In fact, a few fintech startups that originated in Nigeria, the continent’s most populous country, have managed to secure....
Since 2015, an increasing number of multi-billion-dollar financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs have exhibited their interest in emerging innovative financial technologies and startups. Several major banks and financial organizations have established various investment funds for fintech and blockchain startups, to research the application of fintech and blockchain technologies in the financial market. Blockchain technology focused startups have been the main attraction of these banks. According to the Outlier Ventures research team, there are over 1,000 blockchain startups in....
Even though Bitcoin can do a lot of good for the unbanked and underbanked nations of the world, there has been a fair amount of opposition from banks and consumers, most notably in Africa. But even local banks in that region – including Barclays – have to acknowledge the coming change, as they are now putting all of their eggs in the baskets of FinTech and Bitcoin If you can’t beat them, join them, seems to be a very appropriate saying in this regard. A Different Opinion on FinTech and Bitcoin. It has taken African banks quite some time, but they are starting to see how the continent could....
An industry survey that covered 150 executives and investors in the banking sector has revealed that Fintech startups are only causing limited disruption to the industry rather than the dramatic, industry-defining shakeup of an ‘Uber Moment’. A new survey conducted by Autonomous Research has revealed that 14% of banks face a significant threat by Fintech innovations such as bitcoin’s blockchain and similar distributed ledger technologies. Other figures show 44% of 150 investors and banking industry executives believing ‘selected disruption’ in certain sectors while 41% are of the opinion....
In 2021, African fintech startups accounted for 61% of the $2.7 billion in venture capital funding that was deployed on the continent, a new study has found. While its share of global fintech funding is just over one percent, the continent’s fintech sector still recorded one of the highest year-on-year growth rates globally. ‘Record-High Number of Deals Closed’ According to the findings of a new Mastercard study, African fintech startups — whose number grew from 311 in 2019 to 564 in 2021 — accounted for “61% of the USD 2.7 billion deployed across Africa in....