- It was the inaugural program in Africa, and
- The first session conducted in French, amplifying inclusivity for French-speaking fintech firms
Alongside of Geneviève Hengen, Deputy Director for Bilateral Development Cooperation, the esteemed jury panel also included industry stalwarts such as Laura Foschi, Executive Director of ADA asbl, and other prominent figures from the realms of finance and microfinance with Gildas Zodome, CEO of Verti Agri, Grégoire Yakan, CEO of Koosmik and Luc Kpenou, Sales and Marketing Director of the GIM-UEMOA.
The highlight of the event was marked by the announcement of the winner, COVA AFRICA, who was awarded the prize by Geneviève Hengen, Deputy Director of the Bilateral Development
Cooperation.
“Alone we go faster, together we go further”. (African proverb). Thanks to the COVA AFRICA team for their hard work every day, and to the Luxembourg House of Technology for giving Cova Africa the opportunity to immerse itself in Luxembourg’s financial inclusion ecosystem for a few days and benefit from exceptional advice, training and meetings.
Special thanks to Annabelle and Alex and the other finalists for the very high standard of the competition. We are proud to be the winner of the 6th edition of Catapult Africa, the first edition in French, and to bring the trophy back to Cameroon.” added, Virginie POUNA NGOMI, CEO, Co-Founder.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa, a beacon of financial inclusivity, has been instrumental in accelerating the trajectories of numerous companies, fostering innovation, and bridging the gap between Africa and Europe in the fintech landscape. The week-long bootcamp, rich in sessions and mentorship opportunities, has been a crucible for fintechs, enabling them to refine their strategies, enhance operational efficiencies, and magnify their social impact.
The program is supported by the Ministry of Foreign & European Affairs, Directorate for Development and Humanitarian Affairs, alongside many key strategic partners from the finance and microfinance industry.
CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa has accelerated 70 companies from over 25 countries since its launch. This year, there were over 140 applications from which 10 fintechs from seven countries were selected for the one-week program. This edition featured 26 sessions and the involvement of 28 experts and 38 mentors.
The program was supported by key strategic partners such as:
- LFF (Luxembourg For Finance)
- ADA asbl (Appui au Développement Autonome)
- Blue-Ventures.VC
- GGGI (Global Green Growth Insitute)
- Themis Lex
- CIF
- IIDIA
- LMDF (Luxembourg Microfinance and Development Fund)
- SPTF (Social Performance Task Force)
- CGAP
- LuxDev
- AFI (Alliance for Financial Inclusion)
- EIB (European Investment Bank)
- Bamboo Capital Partners
- Amarante Consulting
- GIM – UEMOA
- InFine
- Jokkolabs
- Solversx
- Fondation Grameen
- e-MFP
- Arendt
- Koosmik
- Groupe Beyn
The CATAPULT: Financial Inclusion Africa program covered a range of topics, including:
- Business model mapping
- Scaling strategies
- Peer due diligence processes
- Sales strategies
- Business plan presentation
- Operational and risk management
- Funding and capital raising
- Social impact
Mr. Nasir Zubairi, CEO of the LHoFT Foundation, commented:
“CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa’s latest edition was a remarkable convergence of firsts – our inaugural program in Africa, hosted at the SAM, and the first to be conducted in French. This not only signifies the expanding impact of the program but also our commitment to inclusivity and localization in fostering African fintech innovations. The participants showcased incredibly promising solutions that echo the future of financial inclusion.
I express my heartfelt gratitude to our community and partners for their unwavering support in this transformative journey.”
Mr. Franz Fayot, Minister of the Economy and Minister for Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Affairs, added:
“Luxembourg’s Development Cooperation is convinced of the catalytic role played by fintechs in supporting groups left behind by the traditional financial system – and the finalists of this year’s CATAPULT have proven this once again. Their innovative solutions are a demonstration of how the financial inclusion sector and the use of their exceptional technology can promote financial services that meet the needs of local communities.”
The 10 fintech startups that pitched for the final of the 2023 edition of CATAPULT: Inclusion Africa – Togo Edition – were:
AMIRA GLOBAL TECHNOLOGIES
Abidjan, Ivory Coast
Amira Global Technologies is a company specialising in digital transformation that has put in
place a number of social impact solutions based on its online payment solution, Paiement Pro.
This solution enables businesses and entrepreneurs to open up to new markets by accepting
mobile payments in several African countries (Côte d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Mali, Benin, Niger,
Senegal and Togo) and electronic payments (Visa and Mastercard).
With Paiement Pro, entrepreneurs can sell online, collect money and apply for loans based on the cash flow
Generated.
CA PAY
Libreville,Gabon
CA PAY is a web-based payment platform. Its aim is to give people excluded from the traditional
financial system and living in remote areas easy access to financial transactions. Through its
Capay web platform, CA PAY enables companies to make their various payments of salaries,
bonuses, subsidies, etc. using mobile money for their unbanked employees.
COVA AFRICA
Douala, Cameroon
Cova Africa is an insurtech dedicated to French-speaking Africa. The company uses technology,
innovation and partnerships with sectors more popular than traditional insurance to facilitate the
distribution of insurance in Cameroon and French-speaking Africa. It offers turnkey solutions for
the digital marketing of tailor-made insurance products to various partners wishing to distribute
insurance products to their customers as complementary cover to their basic products
(microfinance and fintechs, health techs, agritechs).
DREAMCASH
Yaounde, Cameroon
MiQo is a neo-microfinance offering a SUPER financial app for mass financial inclusion,
providing a fully digital bank account in less than 2 minutes to unbanked and underbanked
people in French-speaking Africa with a smartphone.
It comes with a contactless VISA card and an NFC-enabled mobile app, and aims to provide financial services such as instant credit lines and nano-loans in less than 10 seconds without collateral, contactless payments in shops via QRcode and NFC, multi-currency virtual cards for online payments, free national and cross-border money transfers, personalized financial education, savings and investment.
KOLA GROUP
Yaounde, Cameroon
Kola is a digital microfinance company that helps unbanked individuals and small and medium-
sized enterprises in sub-Saharan Africa access credit, payment solutions and manage their
finances through digital solutions. To manage its risks, Kola uses a proprietary credit scoring
model based on behavioural and financial data.
MICROFINANCE PRO SARL
Lomé, Togo
Microfinance’s SAAS solution tackles the problems of collecting money for MFIs and enables
MFI customers to easily access their current/savings account on their own mobile phone and
easily transfer money to accounts, locally and abroad.
ORYA TECHNOLOGIES
Dakar, Senegal
ORYA TECHNOLOGIES is an African fintech that positions itself as an API provider for financial
services. Their business is building secure and inclusive technology for financial professionals in
Africa. Their Fintra product automatically manages salary advance requests and provides
employees with a financial management system, while maintaining control and without
impacting companies’ cash flow.
RUBYX
Dakar, Senegal
Rubyx is a data-driven fintech offering MSME credit solutions for service providers in emerging
markets. With their solution, they aim to close the funding gap faced by informal entrepreneurs
and small businesses to finance their operations.
They have created a cloud-native, API-driven AI lending platform built around complementary modules including a cloud-based data warehouse / a decision engine and scoring algorithm / a flexible credit management system and a range of information access channels (API, web application, mobile application, external BI tools).
TOUMAI ANALYTICS
Rabat, Morocco
ToumAI offers a SaaS Data Analytics platform that collects and analyses local data in Africa,
whether audio or written, whatever the local dialect of expression. In this way, the company is
giving a voice and economic and financial weight back to local communities in Africa, while
enabling international investors to better manage local risks thanks to more granular and robust
data. They have deployed a citizen survey application that enables us to combine education
(sustainable development and financial inclusion) and local data feedback, while paying
respondents in the form of telephone credit.
Their SaaS solution is fed by this data, as well as data from the media and social networks, and processes it while offering decision-making support mechanisms thanks to their generative AI and dynamic indicators.
WAJENZI
Luxembourg
Wajenzi is a digital marketplace that enables African SMEs to raise funds from individuals and
institutional investors in the EU and the US in exchange for an equity stake in their company.
Wajenzi’s mission is to promote financial inclusion by connecting individual investors such as
the diaspora, European and American retail investors, institutional investors and governments
with African SMEs seeking financing to develop their activities.
About the Luxembourg House of Financial Technologies (The LHoFT)
Тhe LHoFT Foundation(LHoFT) is a public/private national Fintech platform dedicated to federate and foster innovation within Luxembourg’s financial services community, ensuring its future competitiveness. TheLHoFT serves as a soft-landing platform for Fintech companies that are looking to launch their activities in Luxembourg.
Beyond incubation, the LHoFT creates value for the entire Luxembourg FinTech ecosystem: financial institutions, FinTech trailblazers, IT industry, research and academia as well as regulatory and public authorities.
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