Six finalists appear in the Ecobank fintech challenge
Ecobank Group has announced six finalists for the fifth edition of the fintech challenge. The finalists come from Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Senegal, South Africa and Togo.
The bank said the six companies stood out from a competitive pool of over 700 applicants from 59 countries in and outside Africa. They will compete for the top prize of $50,000 at the Grand Final, which will be held at the Ecobank Pan African Center in Lomé, Togo, on Friday 28 October.
The finalists for the 2022 edition, in alphabetical order, are: Cauri Money, Senegal, DizzitUp, Togo, MaishaPay, Democratic Republic of Congo, Moni Afrika, Nigeria, Paycode, South Africa and Touchand Pay, Nigeria.
This fifth edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge, sponsored by Arise, will allow all finalists to benefit from Ecobank’s Fintech Mentoring Programme. During this programme, Ecobank will help them explore opportunities including:
- Rollout of their products on a pan-African scale: an opportunity to further integrate with Ecobank and potentially launch their products or services in all or part of Ecobank’s 33-country pan-African ecosystem.
- Access to the group’s pan-African banking sandbox to test and develop their products in the pan-African market.
- Priority access to Ecobank’s venture capital partners to explore financing opportunities.
Tomisin Fashina, Ecobank Group Executive, Operations and Technology, said: “I am impressed by the growing number of applications for the Ecobank Fintech Challenge. Applications have grown from about 412 applications in 2018 to over 700 in 2022. This demonstrates a clear paradigm shift within the the African continent, with Africans’ desire to transform technological innovation into a real lever for socio-economic development. We thank all applicants for their participation and applaud the highly impressive quality of their submissions. We look forward to working with them on their pioneering digital financial solutions on our continent’s unique challenges and to help promote economic inclusion on the continent.”
READ ALSO: Ecobank launches fintech challenge, offers $50,000 prize money
Gavin Tipper, CEO of Arise, partner and co-sponsor of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2022 competition, said: “Fintechs play a central role in creating innovative digital solutions that improve customer experience, deliver value propositions and reduce costs. Our investments in fintech are based on collaborative partnerships that promote financial inclusion on the continent and provide opportunities for mutual synergies with our balanced investment portfolio.”
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is designed to identify innovative fintechs ready to grow that we can partner with, mentor and provide access to Ecobank’s 33 African markets so they can realize their potential and become pan-African success stories. This competition is in line with Ecobank’s Fintech strategy of building partnerships with African fintechs to help transform digital finance and banking.
The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is organized in collaboration with partners across Africa and the world, including Arise, Gold Sponsor of the 2022 edition, Global Finder, TechCabal, Africa Fintech Network and Konfidants.
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