Registered organisations can now complete the process via the Kuda Business app, providing their CAC documents and trustee information, and have accounts activated within minutes.

For many of Nigeria’s thousands of NGOs and religious institutions, slow, branch-dependent banking has long hindered the management of donations, grants, and operational expenses. 

The Kuda update promises to simplify these processes, enabling organisations to focus more on their mission and less on administrative bottlenecks.

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“NGOs and religious organisations are responsible for managing funds that directly impact communities, yet they are often forced to operate with outdated banking processes,” said Nosa Oyegun, SVP Business Banking at Kuda. 

“By enabling incorporated trustees to open Kuda Business accounts entirely online quickly, we’re giving these organisations access to the same modern financial tools built by Kuda that other businesses already use, so they spend less time doing admin work.”

This also allows users to handle incoming donations and grants, make payments, monitor transactions in real time, generate professional account statements for audits, and grant controlled access to trustees, treasurers, and administrators, all within a single app. 

The signup process is designed to meet regulatory standards while reducing manual reviews, speeding up account activation, and improving information accuracy.

The timing of the update coincides with reforms in Nigeria’s financial sector. The Central Bank of Nigeria’s cashless policy imposes charges on high-volume cash withdrawals, affecting organisations that handle large donations. Digital banking solutions like Kuda’s now offer a practical way to avoid these expenses.

In addition, regulatory changes in 2025, including recognition of digital assets under the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2025, have strengthened the legal framework for fintechs to safely provide services to sensitive sectors. 

However, despite Nigeria’s position as Africa’s fintech leader, with over 430 fintech firms, millions of organisations are still excluded from digital finance due to infrastructural gaps and low financial literacy. Kuda’s move directly addresses this gap for NGOs and religious groups.

Nonetheless, economic stress, policy resets, and reforms in trade and banking policies have made digital-first, transparent financial tools more essential.

Focusing on incorporated trustees, Kuda is now launching an accounts solution for NGOs and religious organisations seeking speed, efficiency, and compliance in the dynamic regulatory and economic environment.

According to the Banking on Innovation report by Briter Intelligence and Lateral Frontiers, fintech firms in Egypt, Kenya, and Nigeria collectively raised more than $6.5 billion in the last decade.

This shows a shift from rapid expansion to sustainable, partnership-driven growth.

The report found that Nigeria alone attracted over $3 billion, led by major payment startups such as Paystack, Flutterwave, and Moniepoint, while Kenya’s fintech ecosystem secured around $2 billion, largely in digital credit and asset finance. 

Egypt’s fintech sector, now the country’s most funded, amassed $1.68 billion, driven by players like Fawry, Khazna, Paymob, and MNT-Halan.

What stands out is how collaboration, rather than disruption, is now bolstering Africa’s financial inclusion. In Egypt, Banque Misr’s partnership with valU has expanded Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services to underbanked groups, modernising consumer credit in a country where cash remains dominant. 

In Kenya, Citi’s alliance with Visa and Cellulant created Citi Optimised Pay, tackling a $25 billion SME financing gap by allowing small suppliers to access instant payments. And in Nigeria, Paystack’s integration with leading banks has enhanced merchant transactions, a success so notable that Stripe’s $200 million acquisition of Paystack became a model for fintech-bank synergy across the region.

Across these economies, central banks are taking a more active role. Egypt’s Digital Wallet Interoperability Regulation and the Meeza national payments network, Kenya’s Digital Credit Provider laws, and Nigeria’s Open Banking Framework (2023) reveal a coordinated regulatory initiative to encourage innovation while maintaining consumer protection. 

Samakab Hashi, partner at Lateral Frontiers, noted, “Policymakers are no longer passive observers. They are actively shaping the future, using sandboxes, tiered licensing, and data protection mandates to balance innovation with stability.”

The research stresses that over one-third of all venture funding in Africa since 2014 has gone to fintech, now the continent’s most dynamic technology sector. 

However, the focus is now changing direction. Rather than chasing payment volumes, investors and founders are turning toward credit infrastructure, embedded finance, and insurtech, sectors with deeper, long-term impact.

On challenges, the report warns that issues around data governance, regulatory inconsistency, and compliance costs threaten progress. 

Nigeria’s resolutions on unlicensed digital lenders and Egypt’s limits on data sharing have slowed expansion for some startups. Still, fintechs are adapting through strategic partnerships, early engagement with regulators, and a stronger focus on cybersecurity and user trust.

For founders, the report recommends building before licensing, forming smart alliances, and focusing on infrastructure rather than duplication. In Egypt, the opportunity lies in e-KYC and Banking-as-a-Service; in Kenya, agricultural and SME credit tools; in Nigeria, open banking-based embedded finance.

Even with global venture slowdowns, African fintechs are standing on resilience and reinvention. Egypt’s steady growth, Kenya’s ecosystem maturity, and Nigeria’s scale show that the continent’s financial sector must continually focus on collaboration among banks, telcos, and innovators working together to bridge access and trust.

Disruption and the ability to collaborate, adapt, and build inclusive systems that leave no one behind, are highly indispensable among African fintechs and others.

The funding round was led by Flourish Ventures, with participation from Visa Ventures, TLCom Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Lava, Musha Ventures, 4DX Ventures, Antler, and individual investors.

Founded in 2020, HoneyCoin has built a stablecoin-powered payment platform that enables businesses and individuals to move money across borders in hours rather than days. 

The company connects directly with banks, mobile money networks, and global payment partners, aiming to lower settlement costs while improving transaction speed.

The Nairobi-based startup processes over $150 million in monthly transactions and serves millions of end users across 45+ countries. Its infrastructure supports payment collection, real-time money transfers via stablecoins and traditional rails, and issuance of bank accounts, debit cards, and wallets. Clients include high-growth businesses and fintechs such as Cedar Money, TerraPay, and Jiji.

“HoneyCoin is tackling real-world challenges in cross-border payments and financial access across Africa,” said Cuy Sheffield, head of Crypto at Visa. “It’s a strong example of how stablecoins can unlock more efficient and inclusive payment solutions in emerging markets.”

Founder and CEO David Nandwa said the company has been profitable for two years and intends to use the new capital to secure additional licences, expand into Mozambique, Zambia, Rwanda, and Francophone Africa, and launch new products. 

These will include a Visa-backed stablecoin debit card, a cross-border liquidity solution for corporates in partnership with Interswitch, and a banking-as-a-service platform in Ghana, Malawi, and Tanzania.

Efayomi Carr, principal at Flourish Ventures, noted: “We first backed HoneyCoin in 2021 based on David’s technical expertise and regulatory vision. Since then, he’s built a licensed, profitable, and high-growth infrastructure platform powering nearly 300 financial institutions and processing billions in transactions annually.

“This follow-on investment reflects our deep confidence in HoneyCoin’s results to date and potential to lead the next generation of compliant, blockchain-enabled finance across Africa.”

HoneyCoin holds multiple licences, including in Canada, the US, Europe, and key African jurisdictions, with direct partnerships with banks, mobile operators, and payment providers. The company claims its B2B settlement volumes are growing 16% month-on-month, while consumer activity through its Peer app is rising by 5% monthly.

According to Nandwa, “Our mission is to build the operating system for money; how it’s moved, held, and collected, regardless of medium or geography—just like Apple redefined computing. This raise enables us to lead that transformation, across Africa and other global markets.”

The partnership will introduce new microcredit solutions aimed at serving unbanked and underserved populations across the continent.

With over 100 million customers in sixteen countries across Africa and the Middle East, Orange Money Group facilitated more than €160 billion in transactions in 2024. 

JUMO has disbursed over $8 billion to more than 31 million African customers, matching expertise and a desire to scale with Orange Money Group.

This partnership will enable Orange Money Group to advance its financial inclusion strategy by introducing new microcredit services to its customer value proposition. 

The collaboration with JUMO leverages their data analytics and artificial intelligence capabilities, refined over 10 years to optimise credit allocation, reduce the cost of risk for lending to < 4% and grow sustainable portfolios.

This strategic alliance will also enable the rollout of various credit products across multiple markets from a multitude of funders, creating a new microfinance marketplace for the unbanked in emerging markets, with an initial focus on Francophone Africa. 

JUMO’s leading expertise in asset allocation and credit risk management makes it a key partner for Orange Money Group in Africa. Orange Money Group customers will be eligible to securely request credit through their mobile devices, without needing a bank account or collateral.

JUMO has developed a range of short-term and installment loan products for consumers, merchants and distributors with limited access to these services. They use trained AI algorithms to assess credit risk and facilitate the immediate flow of capital through their partnerships with pan-African banks and development finance institutions.

JUMO’s AI-driven technology for banks and payments ecosystems will provide Orange Money Group the opportunity to introduce real-time app-based and USSD lending to their African customers. The offering is multi-country, multi-product, and multi-funding, with plans to launch in Burkina Faso imminent, to be followed by Mali and Botswana.

This partnership delivers a streamlined user experience that combines financial inclusion with cutting-edge technology. The process is as follows:

• Users access the service via their Orange Money Group wallet
• They request an amount of credit
• JUMO’s AI technology evaluates eligibility based on transactional data
• If validated, the amount is immediately credited to the user’s wallet.
• Repayment is made automatically according to agreed terms.

Aminata Kane, CEO of Orange Money Group said: “After developing transfer and payment services used thousands of times every second, we now aim to support our customers in their personal projects, as well as help them manage everyday emergencies. In recent years, Orange Money has expanded its portfolio with highly accessible small loan offers.”

“By partnering with JUMO, we aim to accelerate this momentum, roll out these services across a wide range of countries, and combine our expertise with their technology to deliver support that is even faster, more transparent, and better tailored to the needs of all our customers”.

Andrew Watkins-Ball, JUMO CEO and founder: “We are proud to have been chosen to partner with Orange and we are excited to connect Orange customers with products from the market-leading banks that run on our platform. 

“This collaboration, built on top of Orange Money Group’s mobile payments and money transfer platforms, will provide customers with great financial choices and allows our bank partners to grow in new markets”.