He is a chartered accountant whose professional career includes positions at multinational corporations. He founded the fintech company Lulalend to allow access to quick and transparent business funding for SMBs.

Trevor Gosling (photo) is a South African chartered accountant who graduated from the University of Pretoria, where he studied from 2000 to 2004. He is also a tech entrepreneur. In 2014, he co-founded the financial technology startup Lulalend, which provides South African businesses with the funds they need to grow.

His startup offers up to US$280,000 in business financing to businesses that have been in operation for at least a year and have monthly sales of about US$2,200. The startup has developed a system that uses various data points to analyze loan applicants' financial health, business model, and cash flow potential to enable sound credit decisions. 

In February 2023, the startup completed a US$35 million Series B funding round. The financial resources are expected to help expand its operations in South Africa and commercialize new products to improve access to financing for more than 2 million formal and informal small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the country.

" With this additional capital available, and the support of our investors, we are now better placed than ever to deliver on our vision of driving financial inclusion and acting as a catalyst for growth across the SME sector. […] I’m incredibly excited about the future of Lulalend and the positive impact we can have on South Africa’s SMEs, which as we know are so crucial to the nation’s economic development," Trevor Gosling said.

Before Lulalend, in 2012, Trevor founded 5 ounces, an e-commerce platform specializing in wine and gourmet products. The platform was acquired by Naspers Group in May 2013 but the founder remained its CEO until 2014.

His professional career started in 2005, at KPMG which employed him as a senior accountant. In 2008, he joined Rand Merchant Bank as an investment banker. In the following years, he assumed the same position at Goldman Sachs before returning to Rand Merchant Bank, in 2010, as a structured finance specialist.

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In Africa, traditional financial institutions are usually unable to meet the needs of part of the population. This creates a great funding gap that tech entrepreneurs are trying to bridge with innovative solutions.

FairMoney is a fintech solution developed by a Nigerian startup, which aims to "build the leading mobile bank for emerging markets."  It allows its users access to instant collateral-free loans.

"Banks stayed apart from this untapped market because of the lack of digital tech expertise to serve people with limited revenues in remote areas. […] We leverage digital technologies to offer financial services to people, even for very small transactions and loans, in remote areas. [...] We hit a US$93 million disbursement volume in 2020, despite COVID-19 which impacted lending businesses," said Laurin Hainy, CEO of FairMoney.

Through its Android app, users can create a FairMoney account by filling the required form. They specifically need the telephone number linked to their Bank Verification Numbers.

Once they create the account, they can link a bank account or card to that account and start receiving loans. The startup requires no documentation but, it is worth mentioning that thanks to the BVN, it can identify its users. In its FAQs, the startup explains that it "collects and processes securely data from your phone (SMS, device details, location, phonebook) to make a lending decision. This data is necessary for us to approve your loan in real-time without asking you for cumbersome paperwork." Since the launch of its instant loan solution, the startup has attracted thousands of users. Playstore stats show the Android app has been downloaded more than 10 million times.

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In recent years, fintech companies have driven the growth in venture financing in the African tech ecosystem. They attract billions of dollars, encouraging tech entrepreneurs to develop solutions adapted to local realities.

Anchor is a fintech solution developed by a Nigerian startup, allowing users to create financial products and services.

"We built Anchor to abstract away the complexities in building financial products, so businesses can get started in five minutes with a few lines of code. […] We have seen first-hand the painful process of closing banking partnerships, negotiating third-party contracts, and obtaining regulatory approvals. And more generally, the extensive time and effort required to launch financial products," explains Anchor co-founder Segun Adeyemi.

The fintech solution provides the infrastructure, the tools, and the documentation that can help developers easily develop financial products (KYC, fund transfers, account opening, etc) in minutes.

Anchor also offers flexible functionalities companies need to improve international performance. It also facilitates complicated financial operations. In 2022, it was selected to join the summer cohort of startup accelerator Y Combinator. This allowed it access to US$500,000 financing and access to an international pool of investors.

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He embarked on entrepreneurship early while still working for financial institutions. His fintech aims to provide clients with automated tools to manage investments in several instruments and asset classes.

Reda Hachimy (photo) is a Moroccan entrepreneur and the founder/CEO of fintech startup Capital Quant Agency, which specializes in financial and capital markets.

Capital Quant Agency, founded in 2019, provides financial institutions, trading rooms, asset managers, and institutional investors with a powerful capital and financial markets decision-making software SaaS adapted to their specific needs. Its software helps clients evaluate investment opportunities and optimize their portfolios.

" Capital Quant Agency's main mission as an innovative startup is to develop for its clients, notably trading rooms and asset managers, a powerful, scalable, and modular capital market SaaS software that will help them achieve improved operational and strategic performance," Reda Hachimy said in December 2022.

In May 2022, he founded "Annuaire des consultants," an exclusive network of  French-speaking consultants, consultancy firms, and experts. The online directory aims to showcase its members and improve their visibility with institutions seeking experts for their projects. Doing so, it expects to help members land impactful missions in Morocco and abroad.

The founder's professional experience consists of stints with financial institutions. In January 2020, he worked for the Moroccan Interprofessional Pension Fund as a data scientist. In February 2021, he also worked as a quantitative analyst for the investment bank Valoris Group. From February to April 2021, he worked in the markets division of Citibank.

Let's note that in 2022, Capital Quant Agency was crowned Africa's WealthTech Company of the Year and Best FinTech Solutions Provider in the MENA region.

Melchior Koba

Africa's fintech sector has attracted a growing volume of investments in recent years. The investments notably encourage innovation and improve financial inclusion.

APaym is a fintech startup developed by Ivorian tech company Weblogy, founded in 1998. Using QR code technologies, it helps send payments and easily manage funds.

Using its Android and iOS apps, users have to create their APaym accounts and add funds to their accounts via bank cards or mobile money to access its various services. Once they fund their APaym wallets, they can for instance pay their bills without bank cards. All they have to do is to scan the merchant's QR code and the bill will automatically be settled even if the merchant's bank is different from the buyer's.

Thanks to APaym, users can also make fee-free card-to-card transactions, and send funds directly into bank accounts in Africa, Europe, and Asia. They can also send funds to mobile money accounts in Africa or make express transfers (Express Union and Wari).

MTN Côte d'Ivoire's subscribers can use the APaym apps without internet data. The solution also has a USSD code that enables use on feature phones. Currently, the APaym Android app has been downloaded more than 50,000 times on Playstore.

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The Fintech solution was developed to help Kenyan SMEs easily manage their accounting operations at a fraction of the usual costs.

Lipana is a fintech solution developed by a Kenyan startup. It allows Kenyan SMEs to keep their accounts as well as send and receive payments through M-Pesa.

“We saw a need for a cheaper, easier-to-use bookkeeping solution since the existing players include Sage and Quickbooks, which are usually too complicated and expensive for the small business owner to use. Lipana solves this by being the easiest bookkeeping application for small businesses in Kenya,” says Shadrack Apollo, co-founder of Lipana.

The solution has no mobile app. On its web platform, users can register for an account to access the numerous services offered, including sending invoices and quotes, accepting payments, sending invoice reminders, and monitoring the paid, and unpaid invoices. They can also send payments via M-Pesa, bank cards, or any other mobile money or bank account.

Lipana also makes it easy to classify client information, payments, and invoices and monitor company expenses. It charges its users Ksh999 (US$8) monthly, Ksh4,999 per semester and Ksh9,999 per year.

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The serial entrepreneur has already founded five firms and its fintech solutions leverage blockchain technologies to secure and facilitate financial transactions between users.

 Aronu Ugochukwu (photo) is a young Nigerian entrepreneur and the co-founder/CEO of fintech startup Xend which provides payment and management tools to SMEs

Thanks to its innovative solutions, Xend (founded in 2019) helps businesses make online and offline payments, and manage their inventory among other things.

In 2019, Aronu Ugochukwu also founded crypto bank Xend Finance with the support of  Binance and Google Launchpad. The bank offers up to 15% interest annually on deposits. Its Web3 is open for developers and it claims to be Africa's first DeFi (decentralized) company and also the first African company to be listed on Binance Smart Chain. In August, it launched XendBridge, a blockchain payment API (application programming interface), and SwitchWallet, "an enterprise-grade wallet provision service."

The serial entrepreneur also founded Wicrypt, a smart wifi network that allows users to get paid by sharing their wireless internet connection with others. "Wicrypt is providing last-mile internet to people of the world who need it, while leveraging the blockchain by having hosts stake $WNT [ed. note: the startup's cryptocurrency] to become a part of the Wicrypt Network," he explained in 2021.

In 2016, he founded IT service company Ugarsoft. Before co-founding, instant delivery platform Ogwugo (the first Nigerian firm to accept bitcoin payments).

Given his young age and the numerous ventures he has already launched, one would believe that he has always been an entrepreneur but, this is not the case. He also has a professional career. In 2014, he joined KPMG Nigeria as an IT advisory associate. From September 2015 to June 2016, he was a software developer for IT services and consulting firm Lloydant Business Services.

Melchior Koba

Masroofi takes tech-enabled financial inclusion to the next level by reducing the age barrier in Egypt. Indeed, while the minimum age required to get a bank card is 16 years, the solution offers a tailored solution for children. 

Masroofi is a digital solution developed by an Egyptian startup. It allows children aged between five and fifteen to get virtual payment cards for various transactions.  The solution targets closed communities like school sports clubs to enable children to get used to the various digital and cashless solutions around them. 

“As parents, many of us struggle with our children having cash in their hands because they are usually unaware of its worth. They either spend irresponsibly or they lose the cash. This is our seamless solution to parents, with regular notifications to parents of their childrens’ spending habits,”  says Masroofi co-founder and CEO, Mostafa Abd Elkhabir.

The solution has a mobile app accessible for iOS and Android devices. Using the app, parents can create accounts to request Masroofi cards for their children (for EGP75 or about US$2.72) and load those cards. 

The payment cards issued by Masroofi use NFC technology but, they are neither Visa nor Mastercard-branded.  On Playstore, the Android version of its app has been downloaded more than 50 times. Despite that low download count, the founders want to add more features to give an improved financial education to children.  

“We are considering creating an age-appropriate simulation that features different types of investment to expose children to investment experiences through their mobile application,” Mostafa Abd Elkhabir explains.

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The solution is the successor of the proprietary solution AppZone. Its stated mission is "to connect every monetary store of value using blockchain."

Zone is a fintech solution developed by the Nigerian start-up Appzone Group. As the successor of the startup’s fintech solution Appzone, it “allows participating institutions to connect directly with each other and perform payment transactions without an intermediary while completely automating settlement, reconciliation, and dispute management.” 

The solution is a regulated Blockchain network that enables payments and acceptance of digital currencies. According to the startup, its Layer-1 blockchain network guarantees 100% transaction success for payments made in fiat currency or digital currencies. In addition, it guarantees frictionless transactions and universal interoperability. As the platform says, "the network ensures that end-users interact in an easy and natural way and that service providers don’t need to make any extra effort to support payment functionality."

Zone also “supports integration to all systems that store monetary value and all touchpoints used to initiate payments.” To make the system more efficient, it provides simple and effective programming interfaces that can be used multiple times for different payment transactions. 

In early 2021, to support the expansion of its technology, AppZone raised US$10 million in Series A financing. “As Appzone, we launched the first core banking and omnichannel software on the cloud as well as the first multi-bank direct debit service based on single global mandates. With this transition to Zone, we are utilizing the power of blockchain technology to connect every monetary store of value and enable reliable, frictionless, and universally interoperable payments,” says Obi Emeratom (photo, center), Co-founder and CEO of AppZone.  

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The solution helps Mauritians in need get loans and individuals help their compatriots while making small profits in the process. 

FinClub is a fintech solution developed by a Mauritian eponymous start-up, launched in 2018. It allows users to borrwwo money directly from other users with no middleman in the process.

“FinClub acts as a facilitator to connect Lenders directly with Borrowers. Using a seamless and fully automated online platform, with minimal overheads, we pass on the savings to Borrowers who get competitive loans and to Lenders who get higher interest rates,” the startup explains on its website.

To access its services, users can register their accounts, either as lenders or borrowers, via the solution’s mobile app -accessible for Android and iOS devices-. Then they need to upload the required documents.

Once fully verified, borrowers can start borrowing funds for emergency purposes and lenders can put their money to work as FinClub connects to “credit-worthy” borrowers.

Currently, the solution’s Android app has been downloaded more than a thousand times on PlayStore. In 2022, FinClub was selected along with seven other Mauritian startups to take part in Viva Technology, one of the European most important tech events that help gain national and international exposure.

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