Over 1,490 Fintechs entered the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2023

The Grand Finale of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge will take place on 6 October at the Ecobank Group Pan African Centre (www.Ecobank.com) in Lomé, Togo; all finalists will be admitted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship Programme; and the overall winner of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge will receive a cash prize of US$50,000, in addition to being admitted into the Fellowship Programme.

Over 1,400 Fintech businesses from 64 countries in Africa and beyond applied for this year’s Ecobank Fintech Challenge, with eight making the cut to compete for the grand prize. This is the sixth edition of this international competition, and it has received the most applications to date.

Ecobank organization, Africa’s premier pan-African banking organization, reported that this year’s applications had more than doubled from last year’s 703 applications from 59 nations. In 2022, Nigeria’s fintech firm ‘Touch and Pay’ stunned the judges with their ‘Cowry App’ to win the top prize of $50,000.

The eight finalists who emerged from the intensely competitive pool will battle for the coveted top prize of $50,000 during the Grand Finale on October 6, 2023, at the Ecobank Pan African Centre in Lomé, Togo.

In alphabetical order, the 2023 Ecobank Fintech Challenge finalists are:

• Flexpay Technologies (Kenya) – FlexPay provides a merchant-embedded saving-based shopping experience called Save Now, Buy Later to customers.
• FinanceGPT (South Africa) IPOXCap AI is a financial analysis platform for frontier markets. It uses complex algorithms for financial forecasting, health monitoring, and valuation to handle structured and unstructured financial data to generate actionable insights.
• Kastelo (South Africa) – Offers a democratized solution through diverse products, with a focus on transaction, savings, and FX offerings, with the goal of banking the underbanked in emerging economies through client-centric solutions.
• Koree (Cameroon) – Koree is a card wallet application that addresses the shortage of spare change in Sub-Saharan Francophone Africa by digitizing cash merchant payments and empowering millions of African consumers through an incentive reward system.
• Kori Tech (Senegal) – Koripass is an E-wallet that connects to physical payment accessories including bracelets, stickers, and keychains. Using NFC and QR Code technology, it enables quick and easy merchant payments. There is no need for an internet connection or a smartphone.
• Smart Teller Technologies Limited (Nigeria) enables cooperative digital banking, information technology services, and online bill payments for smooth services.
• Rubyx (Belgium and Senegal) – Rubyx allows digital lending solutions for emerging market service providers to bridge the funding gap that informal entrepreneurs and small enterprises confront in order to support their activities.
• Wolf Technologies (Democratic Republic of the Congo) – Makuta is a cutting-edge program that enables easy, convenient, and secure electronic money transfer and payment.

“We are encouraged by the very high number of applications received for the sixth edition of our Ecobank Fintech Challenge,” said Ecobank Group Chief Executive Officer Jeremy Awori, who will host the Fintech Challenge final for the first time. The large rise in participation shows the rising influence of our investments in the fintech area, as well as our operations and fintech activities throughout Africa. The finalists underwent a tough selection process, and we eagerly await the pitches of the eight competitors battling for the top prize and, eventually, collaborating with the Ecobank Group.”

Ecobank Group Executive, Operations and Technology, Dr. Tomisin Fashina, commended the eight finalists of the 2023 Ecobank Fintech Challenge, saying, “We are proud to support the development of fintechs to drive digital banking transformation across Africa and beyond.” The rising level of participation – from 412 applications in 2018 to 1,490 this year – illustrates the wealth of untapped creativity and talent that exists across our continent.”

All finalists in the sixth edition, as in prior editions, will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship Programme, which provides:

• Pan-African product roll-out: Providing the chance to investigate product and business integration with Ecobank and potentially launch products or services in all or part of Ecobank’s 35-country pan-African ecosystem.
• Access to Ecobank’s pan-African Banking Sandbox: Test and develop products for the pan-African market.
• Access to Ecobank’s venture capital partners first: Possibility of obtaining finance.

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge recognizes and supports innovative African fintech start-ups. The program aligns with Ecobank’s Fintech strategy of forming alliances with African fintechs to help modernize digital finance and banking.

The 2023 Ecobank Fintech Challenge is backed by ALX Africa, ABAN Angels, Africa Fintech Network, MEST Africa, Bluespace, Naija Startups, Jeune Afrique, TechCabal, and Konfidants, and co-sponsored by Huawei, Arise Invest, Asky Airlines, and Proparco.