Sequoia Heritage, Stripe and others invest $200M in African fintech Wave at $1.7B valuation

Francophone Africa has its first unicorn, and if you’ve been following tech on the continent, you will be very unsurprised to hear that it’s coming from the world of fintech. Wave, a U.S. and Senegal-based mobile money provider, has raised $200 million in Series A round of funding. The investment is the largest-ever Series A […]

PawaPay raises $9M seed backed by MSA, 88mph and Mr Eazi’s Zagadat Capital

When companies create digital payments-facing solutions for African countries outside Nigeria and South Africa, building around mobile money is key. It’s literally a no-brainer. The concept is ubiquitous in East Africa, but since mobile money is a telecom operators-led initiative, there are technical complexities in creating a unified infrastructure for businesses that need it. PawaPay, […]

Airtel Africa gets an extra $200M for its mobile money business from QIA

Three months ago, Mastercard invested $100 million in Airtel Mobile Commerce BV (AMC BV) — the mobile money business of telecom Airtel Africa. This was two weeks after it also received $200 million from TPG’s Rise Fund. Today, the African telecoms operator has announced that it has secured another investment for its mobile money arm. […]