A record participation of 1,490 fintechs in the Ecobank fintech challenge 2023 for eight (8) of them selected for the grand final

2023-08-25 19:41:14

A RECORD OF PARTICIPATION OF 1,490 FINTECHS IN THE ECOBANK FINTECH CHALLENGE 2023 FOR EIGHT (8) OF THEM SELECTED FOR THE GRAND FINAL

Eight finalists emerged from an impressive field of 1,490 fintechs from 64 countries in Africa and beyond. The final will take place on October 6 at Ecobank Group’s Pan-African Center in Lomé, Togo. Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program. The overall winner of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge will receive a cash prize of USD 50,000, in addition to admission to the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program.

Lome, Togo, August 24, 2023 – More than 1,400 fintech startups from 64 countries in Africa and beyond applied for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge this year. Eight of them have been selected for the final where they will compete for the most prestigious trophy. The international competition, now in its sixth edition, attracted the highest number of entries ever recorded this year.

Ecobank Group, the leading pan-African banking group, said the number of applications this year had more than doubled from the 703 applications received last year from 59 countries. In 2022, Nigerian fintech Touch and Pay won over the jury with its Cowry app, winning the top prize of USD 50,000.

The eight finalists of this competition will compete for the coveted prize of USD 50,000 in the final, which will take place at the Pan-African Ecobank Conference Center in Lomé, Togo on October 6, 2023.

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2023 finalists are, in alphabetical order:

Flexpay Technologies (Kenya) – FlexPay is offering customers a merchant-integrated savings-based shopping experience called ‘Save Now, Buy Later’.IPOXHead AI (South Africa) – FinanceGPT is a financial analysis platform for frontier markets. It processes structured and unstructured financial data to generate actionable insights, using advanced algorithms for financial forecasting, financial health monitoring and valuations.Castle (South Africa) – Kastelo provides a democratized solution through diversified products, with a focus on transactions, savings and foreign exchange, with the aim of bringing the unbanked to the unbanked in emerging markets through solutions customer-centric.Committee (Cameroon) – Koree is an application that allows the creation of electronic wallets using loyalty cards in order to remedy the shortage of small change in French-speaking sub-Saharan Africa. It digitizes payments to merchants, while empowering millions of African consumers through an incentive rewards system.Kori Tech (Senegal) – Koripass is an electronic wallet linked to physical payment accessories such as wristbands, stickers and key rings. It makes it quick and easy to make payments to merchants using NFC and QR Code technologies. No need for internet or smartphone.Smart Teller Technologies Limited (Nigeria) – This solution provides cooperatives with digital banking, IT services and online bill payments for seamless services.Rubyx (Belgium and Senegal) – Rubyx offers digital lending solutions for service providers in emerging markets to bridge the funding gap faced by informal entrepreneurs and small businesses to fund their businesses.Wolf Technologies (Democratic Republic of Congo) – Makuta is a state-of-the-art application that enables simple, convenient and secure electronic money transfers and payments.

Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Group, who will chair the Fintech Challenge final for the first time, said: “We are delighted with the very large number of applications received for the sixth edition of our Ecobank Fintech Challenge. The significant increase in the number of participants reflects the growing impact of our investments in the fintech sector, as well as our operations and initiatives in this field across Africa. The finalists have gone through a rigorous selection process, and we look forward to hearing presentations from the eight finalists who will compete for the top prize and can become partners of the Ecobank Group.”.

For his part, Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Chief Operating and Technology Officer of Ecobank Group, congratulated the eight finalists of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2023, and highlighted: “We are proud to support fintech development to drive digital banking transformation across Africa and beyond. The ever-higher level of participation – which has grown from just 412 applications in 2018 to 1,490 applications this year – reflects the wealth of innovation and untapped talent that exists on our continent.”.

As with previous editions, all 6th edition finalists will benefit from the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program, which offers the following benefits:

Pan-African product launch: the opportunity to explore product and business integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products or services in all or part of the 35 countries of Ecobank’s pan-African network. access to Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox: the opportunity to test and develop products in the pan-African market. Priority access to Ecobank’s venture capital partners: the opportunity to access funding.

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge distinguishes and promotes innovative African start-ups in the field of fintech. The initiative is part of Ecobank’s Fintech strategy to partner with African fintechs to help transform digital finance and banking.

The 2023 edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge is co-sponsored by Huawei, Arise Invest, Asky Airlines and Proparco, and supported by ALX Africa, ABAN Angels, Africa Fintech Network, MEST Africa, Bluespace, Naija Startups, Jeune Afrique, TechCabal and Konfidants.

For more information on the competition, visit https://Ecobankfintechchallenge.com.

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Ecobank Transnational Incorporated

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About Ecobank Group (also ‘Ecobank Transnational Incorporated’ or ‘ETI’)

The Ecobank Group is the premier pan-African private sector banking group, with unparalleled African expertise. It is present in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as in France, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates and China. Its unique pan-African network provides a unified platform for payments, cash management, trade and investments. The Ecobank Group employs more than 14,000 people serving more than 32 million customers and offers a full range of products, services and solutions from Retail Banking, Commercial Banking and Corporate and Investment Banking across multiple channels, including digital. For more information, please visit ecobank.com.