visimoney
TLDR:
Visa has launched the second cohort for its Africa FinTech Accelerator program, which aims to provide mentorship, training, and networking opportunities to startups in Africa. The program is open to seed to Series A startups operating in Africa and focuses on various areas including money movement, embedded finance, empowering merchants and SMBs, payment infrastructure, the future of finance, and sustainable and inclusive finance. The program builds on the success of the inaugural accelerator program, which showcased 23 startup founders from more than 18 African countries. Visa has committed to investing $1 billion in Africa by 2027 to accelerate digital transformation in the region.
Visa has announced the launch of the second cohort for its Africa FinTech Accelerator program, inviting seed to Series A startups operating in Africa to participate. The program aims to provide mentorship, training, and networking opportunities to startups in Africa. The second cohort focuses on various areas including money movement, embedded finance, empowering merchants and small-to-medium-sized businesses, payment infrastructure, the future of finance, and sustainable and inclusive finance. Applications for the program are open until February 29.
The Africa FinTech Accelerator program builds on the success of the inaugural accelerator program, which showcased 23 startup founders from more than 18 African countries. According to Visa, 48% of the startups in the first cohort had women founders or women in leadership positions. These startups operate in various subsectors, including merchant payment solutions, lending infrastructure, Banking-as-a-Service, and B2B marketplaces.
The program is part of Visa’s commitment to invest $1 billion in Africa by 2027, with the goal of accelerating digital transformation in the region. Visa made this pledge in December 2022, stating that the money will be used to scale operations, deploy new technologies, and deepen collaboration with partners.
Ayoub Rqibi, COO and co-founder of Paytic Connect, a platform assisting banks, credit unions, and FinTech companies, participated in the first cohort of the Africa FinTech Accelerator program. Rqibi highlighted the program’s role in helping his firm clarify its goals and structure its approach. He said, “The program’s comprehensive guidance and mentorship have been invaluable in helping us focus our efforts, refine our business model, and accelerate our progress.”
The first cohort of the program will have the opportunity to pitch their innovations to investors during a Demo Day organized by Visa in Nairobi on February 13.
