"Application process begins for Visa Africa's Fintech Accelerator's fifth group, with 22 startups joining the program in its fourth round"
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator has announced the participants for its fourth cohort, with a focus on scaling innovative fintech solutions across Africa. This 12-week virtual program aims to drive digital and financial inclusion by addressing various financial technology challenges.
The selected startups hail from 14 African countries, demonstrating a diverse range of fintech innovations. These include closing the financing gap for small and medium-sized businesses, expanding consumer credit access, improving operational management, digitizing informal nano-stores, and enhancing payments infrastructure.
Maishapay from the Democratic Republic of Congo is an all-in-one B2B financial platform offering payroll solutions, digital payments, and POS terminals. ChatCash from Zimbabwe enables African SMEs to sell and get paid through popular messaging apps using AI-powered, multilingual tools. OKO Finance Ltd from Ivory Coast distributes automated climate insurance, allowing farms to boost their climate resilience and banks to de-risk their investment in agricultural projects. Shiga Digital from Nigeria provides simplified access to decentralized financial solutions for the African market with a purpose-built Defi account.
Other participants include Vittas from Nigeria, empowering healthcare providers with access to tailored financing, digital tools, and payment solutions. Startbutton from Nigeria helps businesses expand across Africa by paying and receiving local currency payments from their customers in a tax-efficient and compliant manner, without the need to set up local offices.
Since its inception in 2023, the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator has accelerated 64 fintechs across three cohorts. Notable alumni include Flend from Egypt, a digital NBFI for SME finance, and Muda from Kenya, a digital asset exchange and OTC platform focused on cross-border payments and stablecoin liquidity solutions for African businesses and fintechs.
The program provides mentorship, tailored training, networking, access to funding, and resources to Africa-focused startups. It is part of Visa's continued commitment to advancing Africa's digital economy. Collectively, these fintechs have added more than $3 million in revenue during the course of the training, and alumni have subsequently raised more than $55 million following completion of the program.
The Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator is currently accepting applications for Cohort 5. Interested startups with a minimum viable product (MVP) or a market-ready solution based in Africa are invited to apply before August 15. This initiative is expected to further boost the digital and financial landscape in Africa.
Some other notable startups in Cohort 4 include Sevi from Kenya, which streamlines B2B payments within non-digital value chains, and Woliz from Morocco, a fintech ecosystem transforming nano-stores into digital hubs with loyalty rewards, payments, and AI-driven operations.
Visa recently pledged $1 billion by 2027 to transform the payments ecosystem. The company's efforts are evident in the success of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator and the positive impact it is having on the African fintech landscape.
- The recently announced Cohort 4 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator includes global applications from a diverse range of startups, such as Maishapay from the Democratic Republic of Congo, ChatCash from Zimbabwe, OKO Finance Ltd from Ivory Coast, Shiga Digital from Nigeria, Vittas, and Startbutton, both from Nigeria.
- With a focus on digital and financial inclusion across Africa, the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator has provided tailored training, mentorship, networking, access to funding, and resources to fintech startups like Flennd from Egypt and Muda from Kenya, which have since raised over $55 million collectively.
- Interested startups based in Africa with a minimum viable product (MVP) or a market-ready solution are encouraged to apply before August 15 for Cohort 5 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator, an initiative aimed at driving revenue growth and positively impacting the African fintech landscape.
