The Africa Fintech Summit (AFTS) has announced the 28 startups selected for the 8th cohort of its AlphaExpo Mini Accelerator and Pitch Competition, ahead of its 14th edition in Accra, Ghana (AFTSACCRA25). The summit will take place from October 8–10, 2025, at the Accra International Conference Center.
The AlphaExpo program launched in 2018 has become a cornerstone of AFTS’ mission to nurture early-stage ventures driving Africa’s digital future. More than 80 startups from 18 countries have already taken part collectively raising over $260 million in capital. This initiative supports AFTS’ broader ambition of promoting financial inclusion, economic empowerment and cross-border investment through ecosystem building, startup support and knowledge sharing.
The 2025 cohort reflects the diversity and dynamism of Africa’s entrepreneurial landscape, spanning verticals from personal finance and digital banking to healthtech, agritech, regtech and AI-powered edtech. Participants will receive mentorship through program-specific masterclasses, attend exclusive summit sessions and pitch their ventures to investors, policymakers and global stakeholders.
The selected startups include:
- Ghana: 360Kart (AI-enabled live shopping), Ascend (VergePay) (mobile-money tap-to-pay), BuukMeNow (service booking SaaS), Das MedHub (AI-powered health platform), KOA Tutors (personalized learning), LbH (agritech lending infrastructure), Rivia (smart clinics network) and Trackify (AI-powered personal finance).
- Nigeria: Brydge (supply chain trading), Centry App (cross-border crypto transfers), Flincap (stablecoin payments) and Slice (real-time credit and commodity marketplace).
- Rwanda: Credstore (BNPL marketplace) and InversePay (borderless neobank).
- Ethiopia: ACE Intelligence (AI business valuations) and YeneHealth (femtech ecosystem).
- Cameroon: Mansa Transfers (cross-border payments in the Cameroon-Nigeria corridor).
- Kenya: Payd (digital bank for the independent workforce).
- Morocco: ProDetect (AI-powered regtech fraud detection).
- Djibouti: Meras (open banking payments API).
- Senegal: SenChange (stablecoin mobile money exchange).
- USA: BLIA (AI-driven proptech), Cronos EdX (AI edtech platform), Fig Finance (embedded finance for gig workers), Greybox (cross-border payments) and NylaBank (Shariah-compliant digital bank, with Ghana).
- UK: Kutana Pay (multi-currency trade wallets).
- UAE: VeryPay (payments without bank accounts or phones).
Zekarias Amsalu Dubale, Co-founder and Managing Director of AFTS, described the program as “a cornerstone of our mission to build a thriving African fintech ecosystem.” He added, “This year’s cohort represents the diversity and depth of innovation across our continent. It also showcases the power of technology to unlock financial inclusion and economic empowerment.”
The rise of fintech in Africa is reshaping the continent’s economic architecture. Mobile money remains a dominant force, yet new layers of innovation embedded finance, AI-driven risk tools and blockchain-enabled payment rails are redefining how Africans access credit, trade and savings.
Healthtech and edtech solutions underscore a growing convergence between financial services and essential sectors, while femtech and agritech signal an appetite for inclusive innovation. The spread of startups across Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Rwanda and beyond highlights a pan-African entrepreneurial fabric that is increasingly global in ambition, drawing interest from venture capital and diaspora investors alike.
Alongside AlphaExpo, AFTS Accra will host keynote speeches, panel discussions, closed-door roundtables, masterclasses, the Africa Fintech Awards and ecosystem tours. The summit is expected to convene government leaders, venture capitalists and industry executives reinforcing Accra’s role as a hub for Africa’s digital economy.
Since its inception, AFTS has established itself as a premier convening platform for the continent’s fintech sector. This year’s gathering in Accra promises to underline the continent’s rising entrepreneurial energy and its determination to reshape global finance from Africa outward.
