Tag: Financial Services

Britam Holdings CEO Tavaziva Madzinga quits after 10 months at the helm

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KENYA – Insurance Group Britam Holdings has announced the planned exit of its managing director, Tavaziva Madzinga, after just 10 months in office in its latest executive shake-up. Mr. Madzinga will officially leave Britam in April 2022, giving the company enough time to find his replacement. The announcement comes barely 10 months after he joined the company on 1st February 2021 following the retirement of Benson Wairegi who had served in the company for more than four decades. The insurer has also announced the appointment of Charles Njuguna as the deputy managing…

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Co-operative Bank gets US$56m from EIB for SME lending

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KENYA – Co-operative Bank has received KSh6.3 billion (US$56 million) from the European Investment Bank (EIB) for onward lending to small businesses to help them recover from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Co-operative Bank Chief Executive Officer Gideon Muriuki said micro, small and medium-sized (MSME) firms with up to 250 workers can apply for the loan. The long-term loan will be repayable in seven years and will assist MSMEs to fund the acquisition of tangible business assets, working capital, development of distribution networks innovation and business research. Mr. Muriuki…

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Ecobank Group secures US$112m credit facility from EIB to support SMEs

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AFRICA – Ecobank Group, the pan-African banking group, has signed an agreement for a €100 million (US$112.22m) long-term credit facility over 9 years with the European Investment Bank (EIB) to support the recovery of African SMEs from the COVID-19 pandemic. The facility is split into three regional facilities: West & Central Africa, Eastern Africa, and Southern Africa. Funding will be provided through Ecobank affiliates, for investment projects undertaken by private sector companies. The EIB made the facility available through its COVID-19 Rapid Response Facility, for private sector entities active in…

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Fintech ImaliPay partners with Cellulant to drive gig workers’ financial inclusion

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KENYA – ImaliPay, the one-stop financial platform for Africa’s gig workers, has partnered with pan-African payments company Cellulant for its payments infrastructure and solutions in Kenya and Nigeria. The ease of making and receiving payments for freelancers will be greatly improved through this partnership and will change the way gig workers experience making payments and the partnership will further drive financial inclusion by allowing ImaliPay users to access financial services quicker through Cellulant’s payment rails. Sanmi Akinmusire, Co-founder and COO of ImaliPay said that: “Most of the financial services provided today…

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Fintech startup Asilimia raises US$2m funding to expand its footprint

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KENYA – Asilimia, a Kenyan-based fintech startup that is building the digital infrastructure to connect African MSMEs to the formal financial economy, has secured US$2 million to grow its team, deliver new services and expand into new markets in East Africa. The startup raised US$1 million in pre-seed funding from a wide range of investors, including two-time unicorn founder, Fredrik Jung Abbou (co-founder of Kry and Lendo), Norrsken Impact Accelerator, and other prominent founders from across Europe. It also raised US$1 million in a debt round that included Bpifrance and…

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FinTech company Busha raises US$4m to deepen its market position

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NIGERIA – Busha, a Nigeria-based digital platform that helps people buy, sell and store cryptocurrency, has raised seed funding of US$4.2 million in a round led by Jump Capital. Cadenza Ventures, Blockwall Capital, CMT Digital, Greenhouse Capital, Raba Capital, and other investors also participated in the financing round. According to the company, the new funding will go towards deepening its market positioning in Nigeria, the leading crypto economy in Africa where all of its users are based. Founded in 2018 by CEO Michael Adeyeri and Chief Product Officer (CPO) Moyo…

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MyBank, Mastercard and Network International launch new debit card to elevate e-commerce in Somalia

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SOMALIA – As part of continued efforts to expand access to the digital economy and drive financial inclusion in Somalia, MyBank, Mastercard and Network International have partnered to launch a new Mastercard debit card that seamlessly enables online shopping in Somalia.   The new physical card is a first for MyBank in the country and will enable consumers to transact in-store at various points of sale and at ATMs, while also giving them the ability to make online purchases through e-commerce channels. These services will also benefit underserved sectors in Somalia,…

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Absa Bank profit after Tax jumps 328% to US$72m for period ending September 2021

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KENYA – Absa Bank, a financial services group, has recorded a 328 percent jump in its Profit after Tax for the period ending 30 September 2021. The profit rose to KSh8.2 billion (US$72.98m), as compared to KSh.1.9 billion (US$16.91m) recorded in the same period 2020, which was attributed to the strengthening macro-economic environment and resilience in customer operations. The bank also recorded KSh.27.3 billion (US$242.98m) in total income, a 7 percent increase credited to higher increased income which increased by 9 percent year on year due to increased lending. Loans…

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FinTech startup Hollydesk raises US$325k pre-seed funding to expand its services and solutions

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EGYPT – Hollydesk, a financial technology startup based in Cairo, has raised US$325,000 in a pre-seed funding round led by the angel investor Faisal Abdel Salam in participation with other investors. The funding will help Hollydesk to scale and pursue further the horizontal expansion of its offerings. The startup further intends to expand its services and solutions in new markets in the region. “We seek to use the new funding to develop technologies for our solutions, assign new competencies within the team, and launch other services that will be announced…

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AfDB grants US$70m to DRC for agro-industrial development

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DRC – The Board of Directors of the African Development Bank Group has granted a loan from the African Development Fund (ADF) of US$70.76 million to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), to implement the Program of support for agro-industrial development in Ngandajika (PRODAN), in the center of the country. This is financing from the Bank’s concessional window. The Congolese government will provide about US$22.37 million in counterpart for the execution of the program over a period of five years, in the province of Lomami, in the center of…

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