Ecobank Launches 4th Edition of its Fintech Challenge to Promote African startups

The pan-African banking group, Ecobank group, has officially launched the 4^th Edition of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge, and all African entrepreneurs are invited to apply for a chance to promote their startups.

The challenge seeks to allow innovative startups to promote their fintech solutions by giving them a chance to partner with Ecobank to scale their solutions across Ecobank’s 33 African markets as well as its international operations in France.

Applications have opened for entries from all start-ups and developers in any of Africa’s 54 countries and global Africa-centered Fintechs.

All selected Finalists will be inducted into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship following the Finals and Awards ceremony slated for November 2021.

The selected top three winners will receive cash prizes worth USD 15,000, USD 12,000, and USD 10,000, respectively.

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All Fellows will however qualify to explore other opportunities with the bank including multinational product rollout, service provider partnerships, and access to Ecobank’s Pan-African Banking Sandbox for the Fellows to test and improve their products for the pan-African market.

Moreover, participants will also receive mentorship and networking support in the network of global and African partners of the Group as well as get priority access to Ecobank’s VC partners for funding exploration.

According to Mr. Ade Ayeyemi, Chief Executive Officer, Ecobank Group, the global impact of COVID-19 has accelerated the dire necessity to digitize and transform banking operations, hence the 2021 challenge.

“As a banking group, we are convinced now more than ever that innovation and technology are the future of banking and therefore reaffirm our continuous commitment to identify and support Africa’s brightest developers to promote their solutions and help improve our services through the Ecobank Fintech Challenge,” said Mr. Ayeyemi.

The Challenge resulted in Ecobank successfully launching the Ecobank Investor App, originally developed by Finance Mobile, a startup from the 2017 Ecobank Fintech Fellows cohort.

Following the successful rollout of the app in 9 Ecobank markets and currently launching in additional countries, Ecobank is working on finalizing other such partnerships with Fellows from the 2020 Fintech Challenge.

“We are firm believers that Africa’s talent pool is enormous and requires specialized and targeted mentorships to fully crystallize and ready Fintech startups for business engagements. Through the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship, we are creating a learning experience through mentorship sessions with in-house, high-level technical teams and with our global partners to help shape and reshape the strategy and focus of African Fintechs,” said Dr. Tomisin Fashina, Operations and Technology Executive, Ecobank Group.

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The Ecobank Fintech Challenge was designed in partnership with the advisory firm Konfidants and is supported by several partners across Africa and globally including ACCION, Catalyst Fund, Nedbank VC, and Cellulant.

Applications will close on 20 September 2021.

For more information on the competition, benefits, and how to apply, visit https://Ecobankfintechchallenge.com