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Ecobank, a leading pan-African banking group, has announced 11 fintech start-ups as the finalists of the second edition of Ecobank Fintech Challenge. According to a statement released today, the bank said the finalists will be honoured at an Innovation Fair and Awards ceremony on August 30, 2018, at the global headquarters of Ecobank in Lome, Togo.

Nigerian fintech star-ups, Wallet.ng and Secapay, are among the selected start-ups to participate at the awards ceremony. The other nine start-ups are Lypa (Kenya); Nala (Tanzania); Litee (Benin); SESO Global (South Africa); InvestED (Sierra Leone); Eversend (France); Virtual Identity (South Africa); MojiPay (Togo); and Awamo (Germany).

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge is for Africa-focused technology start-ups. Ecobank said its goal is to showcase and collaborate with the most promising fintech start-ups from across the continent and support them through commercial partnerships to grow and scale into successful pan-African and global businesses.

The start-ups will exhibit and pitch their products at the event to a jury for the Ecobank Africa Fintech Prize. Prizes will be awarded to the top innovator and two runners-up. The top three innovators will win cash prizes worth $10,000, $7,000, and $5,000, respectively.

Thereafter, Ecobank will enrol all 11 finalists into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship. The fellowship, which will run for a period of six months, will provide an opportunity for the Ecobank Fintech Fellows to further explore partnerships with the Ecobank Group. Possible areas of partnership include multinational product roll-out support; service provider and ecosystem partner deals; and technical and mentoring support for the six-month period.

“At Ecobank, our digital strategy is spectacularly successful and has changed the landscape of African banking. So it goes without saying that we see fintech as a vital component for the economic transformation of the continent and the prosperity of its citizens,” Group CEO of Ecobank, Ade Adeyemi, said. “We want to do all we can to encourage the next generations of fintech entrepreneurs as they will be a driving force in propelling Africa into a globally competitive power in commercial services, enjoying significantly increased market share.”

Ecobank’s Group Executive – Operations and Technology, Eddy Ogbohu, said Africa has a proud history of innovation, and today’s fintech start-ups are the potential giants of tomorrow.

“We’re delighted by the quality of our Fintech Challenge finalists and have high hopes that they will capitalise on the mentoring and support opportunities of the Ecobank competition on their journeys to future success,” Ogbohu added.

The competition is designed in partnership with Konfidant, an advisory firm, and supported by partners across Africa and the World.