Reuters/Siphiwe Sibeko The economic impact of Covid-19 is starting to show up in private equity activity and deals in Africa. With the continent’s largest economies on the brink of recession and investors looking to be more capital efficient while the effects of the pandemic unfold, private equity activity is slowing down across Africa in comparison to recent years. In the first half of the year the value of private equity deals on the continent is on pace for a 63% drop compared to last...

Reuters/Phil Noble When modern-day versions of African tech ecosystems began taking shape a decade ago, the big, existential question was about where investment would come from. As successive years of record-breaking funding signaled investor conviction in the promise of the continent’s startups, the topical focus soon shifted with more scrutiny paid to just how quickly investors could expect profitable exits. Yet, amid the tumultuous circumstances of a global pandemic that has triggered a...

Reuters/Jo Yong-Hak After years of being the top funded sector, African fintech and financial services startups are making the headlines for even more lucrative reasons. DPO Group, a payments services provider for African businesses, has been acquired by Network International, a Dubai-headquartered payments giant in a $288 million deal. The acquisition will see DPO Group continue to operate under the same brand while being wholly owned by Network International. DPO Group’s executives will own...

Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo African fintech has scored yet another major investment win: Jumo, a five-year old fintech startup has raised $55 million in debt and equity funding. The latest investment round saw participation from existing investors including Goldman Sachs, Odey Asset Management and Leapfrog Investments as well as new unnamed investors. It brings Jumo’s total funding raised to nearly $150 million and follows two major rounds in 2018 when the company raised $64.5 million. Although...

Reuters/Bryan R Smith Fintech startups are the rave across African tech ecosystems but the sector has been increasingly defined by payments specialists. This is somewhat unsurprising given how global payments giants have fueled interest by investing hundreds of millions of dollars. But beyond payments and digital banks, there’s a growing crop of “wealthtech” or wealth management startups offering investment opportunities to willing users in Nigeria. More specifically, some of these platforms...