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LATEST TECH NEWS: Kenya’s Pezesha wins 2020 AFI Fintech Showcase. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, December 15, 2020

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These latest stories from the tech space will keep you updated with trends today.

1. Kenya’s Pezesha wins 2020 AFI Fintech Showcase

After displacing other startups, Kenya-based fintech, Pezesha, has been announced as the first prize winner in the 2020 AFI Inclusive FinTech Showcase.

The Kenyan company won the category for its leading innovation in financial inclusion, offering a digital platform that allows micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) the opportunity to be linked with investors.

This way, these entities could be linked to banks, microfinance intuitions, and retail lenders that are looking to drive MSMEs productivity and growth.

Speaking on the development, Hilda Moraa, founder and CEO of Pezesha noted that the fintech startup joined the competition for its participation in helping MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa.

He said: “We are tackling the $328-billion financing gap for MSMEs across sub-Saharan Africa … and the more than 50 million businesses that have been excluded and underserved.”

The 2020 AFI Inclusive FinTech Showcase allows fintech startups that utilise groundbreaking technology to address financial inclusion by developing innovative financial services targeted at underbanked communities.


Tech Trivia:

Which tech platform’s mission statement is summarised thus: our motivation is addressing the biggest challenges facing information professionals today: discovery and access.

A. Twitter
B. Google
C. LinkedIn
D. Wikipedia

Answer: See end of post.


2. Founder Institute partners Pacer Ventures to run accelerator

Founder Institute (FI), arguably the largest pre-seed startup accelerator in the world, has today signed a partnership deal with Pacer Ventures, a sub-Saharan Africa venture firm, for the African Accelerator programme led by FI.

According to press, FI graduates that participate in the African Accelerator programme will be reviewed by Pace Ventures and be given the opportunity to be considered for potential investment in a seed or pre-seed round of funding.

Commenting on the development, Ryan Micheletti, Head of Global Operations for the Founder Institute explained that the partnership with Pacer Ventures will allow FI to remain ahead of its competition.

Read also: LATEST TECH NEWS: FAE Limited unveils product to eliminate ATM fraud. 2 other things and a trivia you need to know today, December 14, 2020

He said: “FI is quickly becoming the gold standard for pre-seed acceleration in Africa. We are excited to strengthen our leadership position by partnering with Pacer Ventures to foster investment in FI Alumni all across the Continent.”

The objective for Pacer Ventures aligns with FI’s mission which is to empower communities of talented and motivated individuals and help develop impactful and technology-driven businesses worldwide.

3. South Africa’s PayCentral launches prepaid virtual card for SMEs

PayCentral, a digital payment fintech based in South Africa, has partnered with Mastercard to launch a secure online platform DigiCentral.

Going by reviews, the online platform provides SMEs with a cost-effective digital payment solution that allows business owners to pay incentives, rewards, gifting, corporate expenses, and employee salaries via a prepaid virtual card.

The new partnership will help PayCentral digitise SMEs payment solutions via prepaid virtual card.

Veenash Parbhoo founder of PayCentral, while speaking to press, explained that DigiCentral is targeted at SA SMEs to offer the virtual card as an alternative payment solution.

He said: “A large part of our focus in South Africa is directed toward SMEs. We find that owners of smaller businesses need options when it comes to paying their staff as well as managing their petty cash and expenses.”

“Working with small businesses for the past five years has allowed us to see them grow as a result of the payment products we offer, he added.”

Similar to a physical card, DigiCentral virtual cardholders will receive a 16-digit card number, security code, and expiry date, to ensure they can complete a purchase online.


Tech Trivia Answer: Wikipedia

With the above adapted mission statement, Wikipedia today is the 5th most visited website on the entire internet; has 500 million monthly visitors; records 8000 views per second; has become the #6 top-referrer to all scholarly articles online with millions of citation clicks per month; contains over 29 million citations on the English Wikipedia alone.

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