Ecobank, the leading independent pan-African banking group, has announced the finalists for the second edition of the annual Ecobank Fintech Challenge, a competition for Africa-focused technology start-ups.
The list includes 11 fintech startups from across the continent and beyond, with an Innovation Fair and Awards ceremony honouring them at Ecobank’s headquarters in Lomé, Togo, on August 30.
The start-ups will exhibit and pitch their products to a jury for the Ecobank Africa Fintech Prize, which will be awarded the top innovator and two runners-up. The top three innovators will win cash prizes worth US$10,000, US$7,000 and US$5,000 respectively.
After the awards ceremony, Ecobank will enroll all 11 finalists into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, which will run for six months during which Ecobank Fintech Fellows will benefit from an opportunity to further explore partnerships with the Ecobank Group that includes:
• Multinational product roll-out support for the start-ups deemed commercially viable
to grow their businesses across any of Ecobank’s 33 markets in Africa
• Service provider and ecosystem partner deals for start-ups with deep capabilities to
become product partners within Ecobank’s ecosystem
• Technical and mentoring support – fellows will benefit from technical support from Ecobank’s global network of technology leaders, fintech experts, investors and management coaches
The 11 start-ups are: Lypa (Kenya), Wallet.ng (Nigeria), Nala (Tanzania), Litee (Benin), SESO Global (South
Africa), InvestED (Sierra Leone), Eversend (France), Secapay (Nigeria), Virtual Identity (South Africa), MojiPay (Togo) and Awamo (Germany).
Ade Ayeyemi, Group CEO of Ecobank, said: “At Ecobank our digital strategy is spectacularly successful and has changed the landscape of African banking, so it goes without saying that we that we see fintech as a vital component for the economic transformation of the continent and the prosperity of its citizens.
“We want to do all we can to encourage the next generations of fintech entrepreneurs as they will be a driving force in propelling Africa into a globally competitive power in commercial services, enjoying significantly increased market share.”
Eddy Ogbogu, Ecobank Group Executive for Operations and Technology, added: “Africa has a proud history of innovation, and today’s fintech start-ups are the potential giants of tomorrow. We’re delighted by the quality of our Fintech Challenge finalists and have high hopes that they will capitalise on the mentoring and support opportunities of the Ecobank competition on their journeys to future success.”
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