Disclaimer: This information does not constitute financial advice or recommendation and should not be considered as such.
Investing
After the economic crisis wiped out investors’ wealth and disposable income, putting your money to work and potentially building wealth is important in 2024. Below are fintech leveraging technology to facilitate access to investment products such as mutual funds, crypto, and dollar-denominated investments.
- Achieve app
The Achieve app is a digital platform that partners with licensed fund managers to provide safe investment products to help individuals achieve their financial goals. The platform currently offers users access to two mutual funds: a Eurobond trust managed by Sentinel Asset Management, which invests in dollar-denominated securities, and DigiSave, an open-end mutual fund managed by Blackstar Advisors.
The app has over 100k downloads on the Google Play Store. In 2022, the fintech received funding from Microtraction, the pan-African pre-seed venture capital firm.
- Ladder
Ladder is an AI-powered wealth management company that offers personalized financial advisory services. The all-in-one financial platform helps users build and automate wealth by giving them control over finances, USD savings, and dollar-denominated investments. Its AI bot, LADY, also offers personalized money advice based on your financial details, helping you earn, spend, and align goals with your life.
Founded by Maame Abrema Quarm, the company was accepted into the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program in 2023.
- Accrue
Accrue offers users the opportunity to invest in cryptocurrencies and the stock market. The platform has four savings plans available. These include the Savings Pocket, which allows users to save and withdraw whenever they want; the Goal plan, which enables users to save towards a goal; the Challenge plan, which lets one save competitively towards an objective with other people; and the Vault plan, which enables one to lock money for a chosen period.
- Bamboo
Bamboo is an online brokerage platform that allows users to invest directly in the U.S. stock market and other fixed-income assets. It currently offers over 3,000 stocks.
The Greycroft and Tiger Global-backed company raised a $15 million Series A in 2022 and expanded to Ghana in 2022 through a partnership with 10th Capital Investments, a licensed asset manager.
- Risevest
Risevest allows users to allocate capital to a managed investment portfolio of US stocks, US rental properties, and global fixed-income assets. Unlike other platforms that allow users to pick stocks, Rivest enables users to invest in a fund that invests in carefully selected assets (stocks, properties, etc.).
Commodities investing
Commodities investing involves trading raw materials or primary agricultural products like gold, oil, coffee, or wheat. Unlike stocks or bonds, commodities are physical goods that can be bought and sold on commodity exchanges worldwide. The following startups provide users the opportunity to access commodities.
- Grow For Me
Grow For Me connects farmers with investors. Through its platform, investors fund specific farming projects, which farmers execute using sustainable agricultural practices. Investors then receive returns based on the success of the farming project, allowing them to participate in agriculture without directly owning land or managing farming operations. This model helps farmers access much-needed capital while providing investors with opportunities for financial growth through agriculture.
Founded in 2017 by Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, the company secured funding from Google For Startups Black Founders Fund in 2021.
- Kwidex
Kwidex is a decentralized and tokenized web platform that links agribusinesses and
farmers to potential investors based on smart contract blockchain technology. It allows users to invest in the agricultural value chain for returns after a listed period.
Loan
Loans are crucial in shaping the financial health of individuals and businesses by providing access to capital for various purposes. Where traditional banks have failed in extending credit to individuals and businesses, fintech companies, such as Fido, Affinity Africa, and CedisPay, are deploying innovative solutions to bridge the gap.
- Fido
Fido offers mobile loans to individuals and small businesses—even to customers with no financial track record. The loans are repayable through single or multiple installments for up to six months. As of 2022, the company had underwritten 1.5 million loans, valued at $150 million, to 340,000 customers in Ghana.
The digital lender raised a $30 million Series A round in 2021 to expand to Uganda and add savings, payment, and credit score products to its portfolio.
- Affinity Africa
As a fully-fledged digital bank, Affinity offers loan products to individuals and businesses often financially excluded by traditional financial institutions.
- CedisPay
CedisPay aims to provide financial services to individuals who have been historically underbanked and unserved by traditional banking systems by leveraging existing payment rails in banking and telecommunications to offer loans, savings, and growth opportunities to its customers.
Led by Emmanuel Akrong, the company provides many loan products, including pension-backed loans, which enable borrowers to access loans based on their pension contributions.
Asset financing
Technology-driven platforms also facilitate asset financing for vehicles, equipment, real estate, and other high-value items. Companies like Motito and Credit Mall are providing such services.
- Motito
Motito is an asset financing marketplace that offers credit payment options for customers to purchase essential assets. The buy now, pay later platform does this by partnering with businesses to provide their existing or new customers with an interest-free credit line at the point of sale.
Founded by Tobi Martins and Betty Enyonam Blavo, Motito promotes affordability and flexibility by allowing customers to purchase essentials with other payment options besides cash.
- Credit Mall
The Teachers’ Fund-backed buy-now-pay-later platform was set up to serve the consumer credit needs of teachers. It sells products ranging from household items and appliances to teachers on credit. Credit Mall has recently started selling to private institutions to reduce its over-dependence on employees on the Controller and Accountant General’s Department payroll.
Insurance
Insurance plays a pivotal role in safeguarding one’s financial health by protecting against various risks and uncertainties. Insurance offers financial security and peace of mind, whether health, life, property, or business-related risks. Startups like MyFig, Brolly Africa, and Moovon are disrupting the insurance landscape by leveraging technology to make insurance more accessible, affordable, and user-friendly.
- MyFig
MyFig is a platform with a recommendation engine for life insurance, investments, and pension products. It helps users plan their financial health by aggregating data to enable users to compare life insurance, investment, and pension offerings. The platform fills the gap by easing the complexity and information required to decide what pension or financial packages to choose.
- Brolly Africa
Brolly is a flexible auto insurance platform that enables Ghanaian users to pay weekly or monthly. If you’re a salaried worker who gets paid monthly, you can pay monthly for comprehensive or third-party-only coverage for your car. Commercial drivers can pay weekly via its ‘pay small-small’ option.
The Techstars-backed startup seeks to unlock growth in the African insurance market by making coverage easy to buy.
Moovon
Like Brolly Africa, Moovon also provided car owners with payment options for their insurance premiums. It recently partnered with Priority Insurance to enable its policyholders the flexibility in premium payment and increase insurance penetration with ease of premium payment.
Pensions
Pension fintechs leverage technology to enhance pension planning, management, and accessibility for individuals. These platforms offer innovative solutions such as automated savings, investment tracking, retirement planning tools, and personalized advice to help users better understand and optimize their pension contributions. One Plan and People’s Pension Trust play a part in the sector.
- One Plan
The Techstars-backed startup One Plan helps workers in Africa’s informal economy create affordable financial plans. It makes it easier to start a retirement plan, access low-interest credit, and obtain health and life insurance coverage. Led by Harold Awuah-Darko, the company is licensed by the Ghana National Pension Regulatory Authority.
- People’s Pension Trust
People’s Pension Trust Ghana is a digital-driven licensed (National Pension Regulatory Authority) pension trustee that provides pension products for informal and low-income formal workers. It offers a flexible personal pension product that enables users to contribute daily, weekly, monthly, or seasonal.
