The African continent has witnessed 17.7% increase in fintech ventures, from 576 in 2021 to 678 in 2023.
This is based on the latest reports from Disrupt Africa’s Finnovating for Africa publication, which is done every 2 years ever since June 2017. This publication monitors significant innovations in the fintech industry across the continent.
AZA Finance, one of the continent’s fintech which provides a dependent and efficient financial framework for payments, forex and settlement collaborated on the release of the current edition. Another collaborator is Curacel, which is an insurance infrastructure firm that aids customers and partners in expanding the reach and operations of insurance through cloud-based apps and APIs.
The Fintech growth witnessed increase from 576 in 2021 to 678 in 2023. Initially, a 17.3 % increase was witnessed from 2017 to 2019. This has cumulated in a total of 125.2% from 2017 to 2023 in the amount of fintech startups that are operational in Africa.
The report quoted that “This growth is taking place across the continent, with all major markets bar South Africa posting an increase in the number of active ventures. Egypt and Nigeria are growing especially fast, with the number of fintech companies based in those countries leaping by 66.7% and 50% respectively over the course of the last two years.”
“Startups continue to launch at a steady rate. Almost 40% of currently active fintech ventures were launched between 2019 and 2021, and though numbers for 2022 and 2023 look lower for now, there will undoubtedly be many startups that formed more recently that have yet to flick across our radar.”
It must be noted that of the 576 startups in 2021, 115 have been out of operation which marks about 20%. However, they have been impressive as they have remained constant regarding the expansion rate in the continent’s fintech sector.
Tom Jackson, Disrupt Africa co-founder, claims that “It is clear that African fintech is in its prime, driving forward financial inclusion and powering the commercial revolution occurring on the continent.”
