Ecobank has announced the finalists of the 2021 Ecobank Fintech Challenge. The challenge, in its fourth edition, is designed to help Fintechs with Africa-focused products join forces with the leading pan-African Group to provide Africans with groundbreaking financial services.
This year’s final saw five finalists selected from various African countries. The finalists, who emerged from a competitive pool of nearly 900 Fintechs that entered the 2021 Fintech Challenge will participate in a virtual Finale to be held next month.
The 2021 Finalists are:
- Anadata Limited from Nigeria – developed Chota, an automated Address Verification System that uses Big Data Analysis to accelerate the process while improving accuracy.
- Trove Finance, from Nigeria – built software (APIs & Tools) that allows African Individuals and financial Institutions (Banks, Brokers and Fund Managers) access and trade US & Global stocks
- Motito from Ghana – promotes financial inclusion in Africa through their ‘buy now pay later’ platform which allows small businesses to offer interest-free credit at point of sale.
- OKO FINANCE from Mali – offers new-generation index insurance to small holder farmers, that are mobile-based and include access to affordable loans, weather alerts and farming tips.
- Fourthline Limited from Kenya – developed Pollen which is designed to be a USSD ecosystem for conducting cross-telecom payments and savings for the unbanked.
The Finalists will pitch their products to a jury which will select the top three most promising products. The top three finalists will receive cash prizes of US$15,000, US$12,000 and US$10,000 respectively.
All the finalists will be enrolled into Ecobank’s Fintech Fellowship where they will spend six months exploring partnership opportunities, including:
- Multinational Product Roll Out: An opportunity for eligible Fintechs to pursue collaboration with Ecobank and possibly launch products in Ecobank’s 33 African markets.
- Service Provider Partnerships: A chance to partner with Ecobank on pan-African products and services roll out and undertake other joint ventures.
- Mentoring and Networking Support: Access to networking and mentoring opportunities within the Ecobank Group and its vast network of global and African partners.
- Digital Offering integration: An opportunity for Fintechs to potentially integrate with Ecobank’s existing digital offerings.
Tomisin Fashina, Group Executive, Operations & Technology, Ecobank Group, said: “The five finalists in this year’s edition have shown impressive products from a competitive group of nearly 900 applicants. I would like to personally congratulate them and express my excitement at the opportunity to work with them to bring their innovative ideas to fruition.”
