The Rise of API Fintechs in Africa

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THE RISE OF API FINTECHS

IN AFRICA

DAVID MOUKO ELIZAPHAN OMAANYA

THE RISE OF API FINTECHS IN AFRICA

API stands for ‘application program interface,’ a term which refers to a set of functions that allows apps to interact with external software components (as well as microservices and operating systems) and access data.

These functions underpin, for example, transactions made via an e-commerce platform or on a fintech or banking app.

Venture Funding

Recent years have seen a sharp increase in the amount of venture funding put into African API fintech companies. For example, the company Mono secured $500,000 of seed funding to drive the development of an API that allows companies to verify account details, generate bank statements, perform credit checks, and verify payments.

Challenges Facing African API Fintech Companies

In Africa, a lack of technology or a framework for developing API structures is one of the key challenges facing API fintech companies, as is the fact that, currently, relatively few people on the continent have experience in developing the required structures. These companies also have to deal with issues around security; it’s vital that the organizations they partner with are deploying the appropriate levels of security to keep data safe during the exchange of information.

In Africa, a lack of technology or a framework for developing API structures is one of the key challenges facing API fintech companies, as is the fact that, currently, relatively few people on the continent have experience in developing the required structures.

For more information about this topic, visit the blog of David Mouko Elizaphan Omaanya.

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