Flash International (“Flash”), the largest fintech and payments aggregator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (“DRC”) and with operations in the Republic of Congo (“ROC”) and Cote d’Ivoire, has entered into a strategic partnership with the DRC subsidiary of FINCA Impact Finance, FINCA DRC (“FINCA”). This partnership leverages their respective platforms and provides greater access to a full suite of financial services to a significantly underbanked population. The World Bank estimates that only 26% of the DRCs population of approximately 90 million have access to financial services in spite of a 44% mobile phone penetration rate and 23% data penetration […]
Alpha Direct has successfully commenced operations in Zambia, its first overseas expansion. Sales have been promising to date. Alpha Direct has become the fifth-largest short-term insurance underwriter in their home market, Botswana, in under five years. Over the next five years, Alpha Direct plans to expand its product offering to include long-term insurance products and expand its footprint to include South Africa, Kenya, Egypt and Nigeria. In addition, Alpha Direct plans to license its products and technology in 10 African countries outside those where it has a physical presence. Alpha Direct recently won The African Insurance Award for Innovation of […]
Finclusion, a leading fintech in Southern and Eastern Africa, has launched Click2Pay, a buy now, pay later (“BNPL”) business model supporting SMEs and other businesses in South Africa. Traditional credit-card payment is a system that desperately needs innovation as more and more consumers are opting out of interest-heavy purchases. This is pushing South African businesses to find solutions to attract and retain customers, such as the BNPL model. As the pandemic continues to reshape customers’ payments expectations, as well as providing a further spur to e-commerce volumes overall, BNPL is expected to play a vital role, offering a flexible alternative […]
Verdant Capital – IMAP South Africa recently hosted its proprietary Video Africa virtual investor conference. Edmund Higenbottam, Managing Director at Verdant Capital shares details on the conference’s origins and explains why investor conferences such as theirs are so vital in terms of helping drive essential capital raising activities especially during the current economic crisis triggered by COVID-19. What led to you to decide to host your own investor conference? The first Video Africa was held last year during the first weeks of the disruption caused by the pandemic. We had been due to attend a large investor event in London, […]
Verdant Capital is pleased to announce a new investment advisory partnership with Invest in Visions GmbH (“IIV”) of Germany. Under the partnership Verdant Capital will, on a pan-African basis, originate, prepare for execution, and monitor investments for IIV’s funds investing in inclusive financial institutions (“IFIs”). These institutions include microfinance banks non-banking financial institutions, credit-only institutions, leasing businesses, innovative or technology-driven credit businesses, as well as commercial banks that credibly serve SMEs. The partnership with IIV is an important additional pool of capital for Verdant Capital’s Specialist Funds platform. Verdant Capital Specialist Fund’s principal aim is to alleviate the impediments to […]
Verdant Capital has successfully completed its fourth major fintech transaction in the last 12 months. The debt and equity raise for leading challenger fintech, Zeepay, head-quartered in Ghana, follows a USD 20 million equity and debt capital raise for Tugende, an East African technology-enabled asset financing business, an USD 11 million debt capital raise for Retail Capital a technology-driven SME-lender in South Africa, and a USD 13 million equity and debt raise for Planet42 an innovative car subscription business in South Africa. Zeepay is a pioneer of digital remittances from the diaspora to mobile wallets, bank accounts and visa cards […]
