In the third quarter of this year alone, African fintech firms raised $906m, according to Digest Africa, a database of early-stage investments on the continent. That represented more than 60 percent of all venture money that flowed into Africa last quarter, and more than all other sectors combined in the first half of 2021. This year’s trend builds on a separate analysis by BFA Global’s Catalyst Fund, which showed funding for African fintechs grew exponentially, from a mere $385m in 2018 to $1.35bn last year. Three years ago, the continent had one privately-owned startup worth over $1bn – Nigerian e-commerce company Jumia. Today, at least seven African startups have joined the “unicorn” club. Five of those are fintech firms, three of which — Flutterwave, OPay and Wave — became unicorns just this year.

https://www.aljazeera.com/economy/2021/11/19/global-investment-money-is-flooding-into-africas-fintechs