Kigali International Financial Centre on Wednesday announced its first FinTech only focused Africa Fund with an initial capital of U$50M in collaboration with Vusi Thembekwayo Venture Investor.
The centre seeks to transform Rwanda into an international financial destination for investors seeking opportunities across the African continent.
“The Africa Fintech Fund will invest in growth start up fin techs in Africa,” the Kigali International Financial Centre said on Wednesday.
At the first session of the ongoing Expo2020 Rwanda Business Forum, Minister of ICT & Innovation Musoni Paula highlighted the need to establish the right environment and policies and to ensure access to finance for entrepreneurs to be able create a thriving digital economy.
Pascal Murasira the Managing Director of Norrsken East Africa told participants at the forum that; “Rwanda as a proof-of-concept destination has become the innovation lab of the African Continent.”
“Rwanda offers a safe and transparent place to do business not only in the country, but on the entire continent,” says Diane Karusisi CEO Bank of Kigali.
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Financial technology, colloquially referred to as “fintech,” is accelerating financial inclusion in Africa and this sector has grown rapidly in Africa over the past few years, as technology has helped reduce banking costs for the benefit of both service providers.
Fintechs in Africa continue to overshadow all other startups in funding gained.
By 2025 the continent will be home to 1.5bn people, most of whom will have grown up in the era of the internet.
Fintech investors are betting that young African talent can innovate its way out of the region’s most pressing financial problems faster than legacy firms can.
According to The Big Deal database, In 2021 fintech was still by far the sector attracting the most funding in Africa $2.3 billion in total, which was 2.7x the amount the sector had raised in 2020, and much more than the total raised by all start-ups on the continent that year ($1.6b+). Of the 12 African ‘mega deals’ ($100m+) in 2021, 9 were in fintech.
Meanwhile, ‘Energy’ and ‘Logistics & Transportation’ have been completing the top 3 with fintech since 2019.
