Visa gathered in Cape Town for the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme Cohort 4 Demo Day. The event showcased 22 African fintech startups with the goal to develop innovative digital commerce solutions across the continent.
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The energy in the room was a mix of excitement and nerves as start-ups from Cohort 4 of the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme prepared to pitch their ideas to industry leaders, founders and potential investors at a Demo Day in Cape Town. The event featured 22 African fintech start-ups, each taking to the stage for three minutes to pitch their solutions and highlight the impact they aim to drive across the African payments ecosystem.
Cohort 4 follows on the strong foundations laid by the previous programme’s alumni, with the start-ups in this group spanning 12 African markets, operating across 31 countries and delivering solutions in 10 diverse fintech subsectors, from digital currencies and stablecoins, to emerging areas like agentic commerce. These new businesses are working to eliminate the challenges faced by Africans across a range of industries, from farmers and healthcare workers, to content creators, retailers and small business owners.
Some 90% of the start-ups in this cohort have women in leadership positions, including eight female founders, reflecting the programme’s commitment to inclusive growth.
Shiga Digital’s founder and CEO, Abiola Shogbeni.
Welcoming attendees to the event, Meagan Rabe, VP for Merchant Services, Acquiring and Fintech for Sub-Saharan Africa at Visa, highlighted some of the success stories from previous cohorts. Cohort 1 brought together 23 fintech innovators for the programme’s official launch in 2023. Cohort 2 added 22 more, with an incredible 65% of those start-ups led by women. Cohort 3 introduced 19 new players, expanding the programme’s reach across 28 African markets and featuring Y Combinator graduates and alumni from the Visa Everywhere Initiative.
“We know that the future of payments is here in Africa. We know that the future of innovation is here, and we know that the industry’s top talent can be found on this continent,” said Rabe. According to Rabe, the goal of the programme is to partner, collaborate, and open doors so that these businesses accelerate their growth and impact.
According to Charlene Kanyali, the director of operations at MUDA Ventures and one of the Cohort 4 fintechs, the Visa programme has been tense, but exciting. “I don’t know if you ever get used to pitching, but standing on that stage and looking at all of the people in the room – some familiar faces and some new faces – made me feel confident because these people are here to see us and to hear about what we do.”
Meagan Rabe, head of digital partnership and ventures Sub-Saharan Africa, Visa.
Rinse Jacobs, one of the co-founders of Zazu, another Cohort 4 fintech, is excited about what lies ahead. “We’ve already had some nice chats with VCs and potential funders after the pitching session, so that’s encouraging, especially given the talent in the room.”
He described a shift in mindset among his fellow founders, from being more closed off and guarded about their ideas, to being more open to sharing and willing to collaborate. For Jacobs, this creates a much stronger foundation for the industry as a whole. “The turnout at the event was good, and the willingness of the people in attendance to listen to us and really take in what we are pitching makes all the work to get to this point worth it.”
There’s a lot of potential in this cohort, said Shiga Digital’s founder and CEO, Abiola Shogbeni. “Potential that is being accelerated by programmes like the Visa Africa Fintech Accelerator programme – from what I’ve heard today and what I’ve experienced throughout the programme – I really believe that some very successful unicorns will come out of this group.”