E-Financial
AfDB, Africa Fintech Network sign $525,000 Grant to Strengthen Fintech in Africa

The African Development Bank, has signed a $525,000 grant agreement with Africa Fintech Network (AFN) for the setup of the Africa Fintech Hub, an online portal that will serve as a one-stop shop for all fintech activities in Africa.
The agreement was signed on 4 April 2023. The Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility (ADFI) will provide funding and technical assistance to the Africa Fintech Network to host and manage the African Fintech Hub.
The hub is a digital platform that will enable fintech associations across Africa to pool resources and knowledge, strengthen relationships and partnerships, as well as showcase the work of fintech on the continent, including those which are female-led or owned.
The African Fintech Hub will be delivered through a strategic partnership between AFN and the Centre for Financial Regulation and Inclusion (Cenfri), which will provide technical support in the development of the Hub, as well as promote research, knowledge creation and other innovative initiatives.
Lamin Barrow, Director General of the African Development Bank’s Nigeria Country Department, underscored the importance of the Bank’s support to the project, saying it would contribute to strengthening the fintech ecosystem in Africa, boost competitiveness in the digital world, whilst leveraging partnerships.
“At the African Development Bank, we recognize that we have a major role to play in helping to create a robust, efficient and sustainable fintech ecosystem across the continent. We are accelerating the delivery of our High 5 strategic priorities through our various innovative interventions.
“These have helped improve access to digital infrastructure, including Information and Communications Technology linkages to landlocked countries and broadband internet services. The need to leapfrog barriers and scale up inclusive digital financial solutions to accelerate economic resilience across Africa has become even more urgent.”
The African Development Bank, together with its partners, launched the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility to make catalytic investments in support of innovative ideas such as the Africa Fintech Hub Project aimed at expanding access and usage of digital financial solutions to meet the needs of all Africans.
Dr Segun Aina, President of Africa Fintech Network, commended the Bank for supporting the initiative.
“We are truly excited about this partnership with the African Development Bank, and the possibilities of working in partnership with Cenfri on multiple initiatives with fintech across Africa to further our mission to drive Africa-led fintech solutions, stimulate information exchange, ideation and the support and to promote innovative technologies within the financial services sector across Africa and beyond. “
ADFI Coordinator, Sheila Okiro, said the Bank, through the partnership of the Africa Digital Financial Inclusion Facility, is delighted “to support this project to strengthen the fintech sector, furthering our work to leverage technology to contribute to closing the financial inclusion gap and creating employment across Africa.”
Currently, ADFI-supported projects are enhancing digital financial infrastructure and regional interoperability through the development of payment systems and infrastructure in Ethiopia and the ECOWAS region. Other projects are equipping financial sector regulators with innovative technology to strengthen consumer protection in Ghana, Rwanda and Zambia.
The Facility is also supporting projects to enhance the deployment of digital micro-insurance to smallholder farmers in Nigeria, Zambia and Kenya, as well as to build capacity for cyber resilience and help to remove barriers to access to fintech services across the continent.
Although fintechs have great potential to contribute to digital financial inclusion across the continent, the African fintech sector significantly lags behind those in other regions such as Latin America and South-East Asia.
In 2019, AFN and Cenfri conducted a survey that demonstrated the need to establish and coordinate local fintech chapters, recruit new members, profile members’ achievements, link them to market access and investment opportunities, as well as advocate on behalf of members to local and regional regulators.
The survey also shows that less than 15% of fintechs are owned by women. Based on the result of the survey, AFN will develop and apply gender indicators and lens as a core part of the project implementation.
E-Financial
African Union Launches Credit Rating Agency to Promote Regional Economic Integration

The African Union has taken a significant step towards promoting economic resilience in Africa with the launch of the African Credit Rating Agency (AfCRA).
The new agency aims to provide a fair, transparent, and unbiased credit rating system, addressing the biases of global rating firms that have reportedly cost Africa over $75 billion in investment opportunities.
According to Kenya’s President, William Ruto, who unveiled the agency at an AU event in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on Friday, “Global credit rating agencies have not only dealt us a bad hand, they have also deliberately failed Africa.”
Ruto criticized the flawed models, outdated assumptions, and systemic bias used by global rating agencies, which paint an unfair picture of African economies and lead to distorted ratings, exaggerated risks, and unjustifiably high borrowing costs.
The launch of AfCRA is a response to the long-standing grievances of African countries regarding their treatment by international credit rating firms.
The agency aims to provide fair, transparent, and development-focused credit ratings that reflect the realities and potential of African economies.
Improving Africa’s rating by one notch could unlock $15.5 billion in additional funding for the continent, according to Ruto.
The idea of creating an African credit rating agency has been in the pipeline for years, with the AU officially announcing its plans to move forward with the project in September 2023.
The push for an African credit rating agency gained momentum in 2022 when Senegal’s former president Macky Sall called for a new system to “end the injustices” faced by African countries.
The African Credit Rating Agency is part of Africa’s continuous march towards economic resilience, which also includes the recent establishment of the African Energy Bank, headquartered in Nigeria.
The bank aims to provide support to unleash Africa’s energy potential and bring an end to energy poverty on the continent.
E-Financial
Nigeria Worst Hit by Crypto Currency Fraud

Fraud in the crypto industry in African continent has soared by 48 percent over the past year and Nigeria is worst hit according to report by CAJ News.
This is according to the Sumsub State of the Crypto Industry 2025 report, which indicates Nigeria recorded the highest rate of fraud across the sector, at 8,3 percent.
Thus, this percentage of verification attempts were flagged as fraudulent.
Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania all have fraud rates of 4,8 percent, with Cameroon (4,5 percent), Ethiopia (3,7 percent), Ghana (3,5 percent), Algeria (2,6 percent), Benin (2,6 percent) and Morocco (2,1 percent) recording significant rates.
The most popular fraud types are document forgery (affecting 31 percent of surveyed companies), phishing (20 percent) and money mulling (15 percent), followed by account takeover (14 percent) and forced verification (12percent).
Simsub, the cyber crime expert, believes this surge highlights the need for companies to adopt artificial intelligence (AI)-powered detection, biometrics and continuous monitoring to enhance security.
The report states that innovations like biometric checks, AI-backed automation and document-free verification have boosted crypto platform users’ on-boarding success rates to 93,39 percent and reduced verification time by 46 percent, overall improving customer on-boarding while reducing drop-off cases.
Hannes Bezuidenhout, Vice President of Business Development (Africa) at Sumsub, said Africa’s growing adoption of crypto provided its own challenges, but the company foresaw increasing demand and growing user expectations across the continent.
“So it’s crucial for VASPs operating in the region to implement secure verification systems and stay vigilant to fraud, while keeping an eye on evolving and new regulations concerning the crypto sector to avoid fines.”
VASP is an acronym for virtual asset service provider.
E-Financial
Banking Consolidation Less Likely as Nigerian Banks Meet Capital Requirements – Fitch

Fitch Ratings has said that Nigerian banks are making significant progress in raising core capital to meet new paid-in capital requirements. The rating agency noted that the banks are generally on track to meet the end-of-first quarter (Q1) 2026 deadline.
This is supporting a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, providing fuel for business growth. It also reduces the likelihood of significant banking sector consolidation.
In March 2024, the Central Bank of Nigeria announced a significant increase in paid-in capital requirements (share capital plus share premium) for commercial, merchant and non-interest banks.
Banks have three ways to comply – through equity injections, M&A and downgrading their licence authorisation.
Fitch-rated banks have made notable progress towards compliance. Almost all have raised capital or formally launched the process to do so.
The two largest banks, Access Holdings and Zenith Bank, are the first to secure enough fresh capital to meet the N500 billion requirement for an international licence. First HoldCo, United Bank for Africa and Guaranty Trust Holding Company are taking a phased approach.
They have recently raised capital and have shareholder approval to begin raising more to meet the N500 billion requirement. First HoldCo’s and United Bank for Africa’s recent rights issues are awaiting final regulatory approval.
Fidelity Bank and FCMB Group have completed initial capital raisings but will need to raise more to maintain their international licences. As second-tier banks, they must raise significantly more capital relative to their balance sheets than larger banks.
They have extraordinary general meeting approval for this, although they could consider downgrading to a national licence as they each have just one foreign subsidiary.
Ecobank Nigeria Limited (ENG) and Jaiz Bank needed only small capital injections to meet their requirements and have already achieved compliance. We estimate that ENG is still in breach of its total capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirement of 10 percent but it has further capital-raising plans to restore compliance. Stanbic IBTC Holdings has launched a rights issue to raise capital to maintain its national licence.
Strong investor appetite has ensured that the vast majority of capital raisings so far have been successful, and most first- and second-tier banks should be able to meet their new capital requirements through capital raisings alone. Therefore, we believe the likelihood of banking sector consolidation among first- and second-tier banks has decreased.
Union Bank of Nigeria (UBN), which is also in breach of its 10 percent CAR requirement, and third-tier banks have generally been slower to raise capital. Wema Bank has shareholder approval to raise enough capital to retain its national licence and plans to launch the process in April.
Coronation Merchant Bank recently received board approval. It is not clear whether UBN and unrated third-tier banks have received the necessary approvals. M&A activity and licence downgrades remain more likely among third-tier banks.
The capital raisings are contributing to a recovery in capitalisation from the impact of naira devaluation, which put pressure on capital ratios and increased US dollar credit concentration risks. Strengthened buffers over minimum CAR requirements will mitigate risks from a challenging operating environment, including regulatory intervention and further naira volatility, while providing room for business growth.
The capital raisings are unlikely to lead to banks with Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘B-’ being upgraded given the constraint of Nigeria’s ‘B-’/Positive Long-Term IDR.
However, they could contribute to Outlook revisions to Positive for some banks, and, providing CAR compliance is restored, to upgrades for UBN and ENG (both rated ‘CCC’). Capital raisings are more likely to affect National Long-Term Ratings, which measure the relative creditworthiness of Nigerian issuers.
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