Hello Innovators,
Welcome to This Week in StartupGhana #60.
Expanding beyond Ghana’s borders is a major milestone for any local fintech. This week, we spotlight a significant move into Francophone West Africa, signalling a growing appetite for regional market capture. Alongside this expansion, the investment landscape is evolving with high-profile leadership changes at Wangara Green Ventures and WEAV Capital, positioning both firms for their next phase of growth.
Here is your intelligence briefing for the week.
🚀 The Deep Dive
Naa Sika says “Bonjour” to Abidjan.
Naa Sika, the conversational banking startup that makes saving as easy as chatting on WhatsApp, has officially expanded to Côte d’Ivoire. By betting on conversational banking, they are targeting the massive unbanked population in Abidjan who might find traditional banking apps intimidating but live their lives on social messaging platforms.
💡 The Spark Insight (Why this matters): Expanding to Côte d’Ivoire is arguably the smartest strategic move for a Ghanaian fintech right now. Abidjan isn’t just one city; it is the economic gateway to the WAEMU region (8 countries using the same currency, the CFA Franc). If Naa Sika can crack the user behavior in Abidjan, they technically unlock a market of over 130 million people with one regulatory framework.
🏫 Accelerator & Incubator
🌍 Violet Amoabeng (Founder, Skin Gourmet) has been selected as a Global Good Fund Fellow. The 12-month hybrid leadership program accelerates leaders tackling pressing social challenges. Fellows receive executive coaching, $10,000 for leadership development, and resources to scale their impact.
🤖 MEST Africa has welcomed 29 founders into its AI Startup Programme. With backgrounds in AI, software, and data science, the founders will spend 7 months prototyping with users and tackling wicked problems.
🚀 Startup Discovery School has onboarded 15 startups into its Venture Studio to help them validate and build.
🛠️ The Pitch Hub upskills 40 entrepreneurs across Ghana and Nigeria with practical AI tools. Participants learned to build AI-powered tools, optimize operations, enhance customer engagement, and integrate AI into their business strategies.
💰 Venture Capital
♻️ Wangara Green Ventures has appointed Thomas Wiredu as its new CEO. His appointment suggests a new strategic phase for the climate-focused fund, potentially looking at deepening portfolio support or exploring new exit strategies.
📈 WEAV Capital, the Lagos-based seed venture capital firm has tapped Nicholas Clerk as Principal. In his new role, Clerk will support deal sourcing, due diligence, and portfolio support.
📱 Product & Regulation
🏥 Mary Health is redefining primary healthcare with AI-enabled digital kiosks that provide symptom assessment, virtual consultations, and streamlined patient services. Its Patient Access Terminal, alongside platforms Ask Mary and Doc Mary, targets underserved communities to improve access and efficiency in healthcare delivery.
🏦 The Bank of Ghana has admitted six new fintechs (Transika, One Africa Securities, Mansu Technologies, Payafrione Ghana, Akuna Wallet, and Afrix Paycoin) into its regulatory sandbox for one year to test innovations under supervision. This will assist the Bank in validating the regulatory frameworks for the exchange, custody, administration, and issuance of virtual assets.
Enjoyed this issue? If you found this valuable, please forward it to a founder who needs to see this.
See you next week, The Innovation Spark Team
