This is what’s happening in Africa’s tech ecosystem…
African fintech firm Flutterwave raises $35m
Fintech startup, Flutterwave has raised a $35 million Series B round and announced a partnership with Worldpay FIS for payments in Africa.
CEO, Olugbenga Agboola said with the funding, Flutterwave will invest in technology and business development to grow market share in existing operating countries. The company will also expand capabilities to offer more services around its payment products. And, according to him, the round was co-led by Grey Croft & eVentures with additional participation from CRE Ventures, FIS, Visa, Green Visor, and Endeavor.
In Case You Missed It: African Tech Companies Raised $1.25bn Funding in 2019 + other developing tech stories across Africa
“We don’t just want to be a payment technology company, we have sector expertise around education, travel, gaming, e-commerce, fintech companies. They all use our expertise,” Agboola added.
Nigeria’s Paga acquires Ethipia’s Apposit
Nigerian digital payments startup, Paga has acquired Apposit, a software development company based in Ethiopia. The company explained in a statement that the relationship with Apposit dates back to 2009 when it dedicated an engineering team to Paga that helped in driving technology and software innovation in the company.
Under the arrangement, Adam Abate, Apposit co-founder & CEO, would become the CEO of Paga Ethiopia, while the leadership team at Apposit would be absorbed into the leadership structure at Paga.
The Lagos based startup will also launch its payment products in Mexico this year and in Ethiopia imminently, CEO, Tayo Oviosu said.
Paga will leverage Apposit — which is U.S. incorporated but operates in Addis Ababa — to support that expansion into East Africa and Latin America.
ZKTeco plans first lab in Africa for facial recognition for black people
ZKTeco’s plans to establish a regional hub in Nigeria for its Africa research operations. The president and founder, John Che states that the new R&D centre will educate young Africans on biometrics and that linking databases will help tackle corruption, money laundering and insurgencies as well as pensions and healthcare. He said ZKTeco would create an ecosystem – a popular approach to presenting growth plans among Chinese tech firms – that would integrate with public and private schemes.
“I think the only challenge Nigeria has is education. Education and technology application, particularly biometrics, will help solve many of these challenges you have listed,” ThisDay quotes Che as saying.
