Money is pouring into African fintechs
Fintech companies in Africa raised more capital in 2020 despite the Covid-19 pandemic, standing in contrast to their emerging market peers such as Latin America that saw a decline.
The continent saw fintech funding, including mergers and acquisitions, grow to US$1.35-billion (R19.3-billion) last year from $1-billion in 2019, according to a report by BFA Global’s Catalyst Fund and Briter Bridges published on Thursday. While Indian and Latin American fintech companies still raised more money than those in Africa, their volumes fell from the previous year as they battled to close later-stage deals.
“The numbers of pre-seed and seed deals in Africa are increasing,” the report said. “While Latin America and India are seeing a growing number of mega-deals, African markets are only beginning to see a few such late-stage deals.”