The Ecobank Fintech Challenge, previous editions of which were won by Tanzania’s Nala and Nigeria’s IroFit, was open to submissions from all startups and developers in any of Africa’s 54 countries.
The finalists have now been selected from seven different countries, emerging from a competitive pool of over 600 fintech startups, and will now participate in an online final scheduled for August 21.
Three of the companies are from South Africa, namely Always In-Touch Real-time, Franc Group, and Ukheshe Payment Solutions, and two from Ghana, in the shape of Growth Factor and Nokwary Technologies.
Ivory Coast’s Moja Ride, Rwanda’s Leaf, Mozambique’s Papersoft, Tanzania’s PayChap, and India’s Fluid AI complete the top 10.
The finalists will pitch their products to a jury for the cash prizes for the top three, worth US$10,000, US$7,000, and US$5,000. All the finalists will be enrolled into Ecobank’s Fintech Fellowship, where they will spend six months exploring partnership opportunities with the bank.