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Fintech News ME
23-05-2025
- Business
- Fintech News ME
Mobile Wallets Thrive in MEA, with Around 50 Competing Brands
In the Middle East and Africa (MEA), mobile wallets have transformed into a large and diverse market, home to approximately 50 unique brands and providers. A recent e-book by Thunes, a Singapore-based cross-border payment infrastructure provider, looks at this burgeoning landscape, revealing a complex ecosystem shaped by domestic fintech leaders and telecommunications firms. Local champions lead the way In many MEA markets, domestic mobile wallets have emerged as clear market leaders, with Egypt's Fawry, Kenya's M-Pesa, Nigeria's OPay, and Turkey's Papara exemplifying this trend. Fawry controls 40% of Egypt's mobile wallet market, while M-Pesa has an extraordinary 95% share in Kenya. In Nigeria, OPay leads with 51%, and in Turkey, Papara holds a significant 32% share. The dominance of these players can be attributed to a number of factors. For one, these companies have a deep understanding of local payments behaviors and needs. They tailor their offerings with local contexts in mind, offering interfaces in local languages, integrating with national identification systems, and supporting low-tech communication channels. For example, M-Pesa from Kenya pioneered mobile money through SMS. The solution allows users to deposit money into an account stored on their cell phones, send balances using PIN-secured SMS text messages to other users, including sellers of goods and services, and redeem their deposits from a network of agents. Trust is another critical factor. In areas where financial literacy is still developing, users prefer familiar, locally-rooted brands. In Nigeria, for example, the rise of OPay has been fueled by the company's strong on-ground presence, agent networks, and heavy investment in branding. These have reinforced credibility and user confidence. Telcos and mobile money drives financial access Across many African nations, telecom operators were the first to offer mobile wallets, long before banks or fintechs entered the space. M-Pesa by Safaricom is a global benchmark for mobile money success. The service was first launched in Kenya in 2007 before expanding to markets including Tanzania, Mozambique, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Lesotho, Ghana, Egypt, Afghanistan, South Africa and Ethiopia. Other major telco-led wallets include MTN MoMo and Airtel Money. MNT MoMo started in Uganda in 2007, initially offering peer-to-peer (P2P) payments. Since then, MNT MoMo has expanded into 16 countries, evolving into a robust e-wallet platform. Airtel Money, offered by India's Bharti Airtel, allows users to manage funds from their phones, including storing value, making purchases, and transferring money seamlessly. Today, Airtel Money operates across more than a dozen markets, including Gabon, Tanzania, Madagascar and Malawi. In Ghana, Kenya, and Egypt, telco-led wallets remain dominant. In Kenya, M-Pesa dominates with a staggering 95% share. In Ghana, the mobile wallet market is led by MNT MoMo with a 55% share, followed by Vodafone Cash at 20% and AirtelTigo Money at 15%. Finally, in Egypt, Vodafone Cash and Orange Money rank second and third respectively, with shares of 30% and 15%, respectively. Strong use of bank wallets in urbanized, higher-income markets In more urbanized and financially developed markets, bank-owned mobile wallets hold a prominent position. In South Africa, for example, bank wallets command a market share of 41%, making them the top mobile payment method. In Turkey and Saudi Arabia, these apps rank second in market share, with 23% and 18%, respectively. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also see significant usage, with bank wallets holding a 15% share and ranking third overall. Widespread adoption of bank wallets in these markets reflects the relatively high level of trust in traditional financial institutions. These markets also tend to have higher bank account penetration rates, making bank wallets a natural extension of existing customer relationships. In South Africa, the UAE and Saudi Arabia, over 80% of the adult population had a bank account in 2021, according to the World Bank. Apple Pay leads in the Gulf In the more digitally advanced and affluent parts of MEA, global tech wallets have established a strong foothold. Apple Pay, in particular, is the leading mobile wallet in both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, with market shares of 36% and 27%, respectively. Google Pay, and Samsung Pay are also well established across the region, holding significant shares in South Africa and the UAE. The popularity of tech mobile wallets in these markets is fueled by several factors, including high smartphone penetration, widespread use of debit and credit cards, and a digitally savvy, middle- to upper-income consumer base. In the UAE, for example, iPhones account for about 17% of the smartphone market, making Apple Pay a natural fit for mobile payments. Largest mobile wallets by market share: Egypt: Fawry (40%) Ghana: MoMo (MTN) (55%) Kenya: M-Pesa (95%) Nigeria: OPay (51%) Saudi Arabia: Apple Pay (36%) South Africa: Bank mobile wallet apps (41%) Turkey: Papara (32%) Mobile wallet distribution in key MEA markets:
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Opera Shares Jump as Forecast Is Music to Investors' Ears. But Is It Too Late to Buy the Stock?
Opera is seeing strong advertising growth. The company also has a nice hidden asset on its balance sheet with OPay. The stock looks cheap given its current growth. Shares of Opera (NASDAQ: OPRA) rose after the web browser operator saw a huge jump in revenue and issued upbeat guidance. While the stock is down year to date, its shares are up more than 20% over the past year. For those unfamiliar with Opera, the company operates a portfolio of web and mobile browsers that are designed to optimize speed and battery life. Its browsers have been particularly popular in emerging markets, although lately it has been more focused on adding higher-valued users from developed markets. On this front, its fastest-growing browser is Opera GX, which is designed to optimize gaming performance. Where to invest $1,000 right now? Our analyst team just revealed what they believe are the 10 best stocks to buy right now. Continue » Opera makes money in two main ways. The first is simply through advertising and its Opera ad platform. It also has a revenue-sharing agreement with Google, where it gets a portion of the ad revenue when people use one of its built-in search bars. Let's take a closer look at the company's Q1 results to see if the stock's momentum can continue. For the first quarter, Opera saw its revenue surge 40% to $142.7 million. That was well ahead of its Q1 guidance for revenue of between $130 million to $133 million. Advertising revenue soared 63% to $95.6 million, while search revenue climbed 8% to $46.6 million. The company also recorded $500,000 in technology licensing revenue. The growth in advertising was led by e-commerce, which the company said offset typical seasonality. Revenue from the vertical more than doubled. Meanwhile, it still sees the U.S. e-commerce industry as having a lot of growth ahead. It also noted that its advertising revenue is performance-based as opposed to brand advertising, and as such, expects it will be more resilient during any period of economic weakness. With search revenue, meanwhile, the company said it was successfully leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to more effectively identify user intent, which was allowing it to "optimize the click stream." Demonstrating the company's focus on higher-valued users, its annualized average revenue per user (ARPU) soared 45% year over year to $1.94. Its number of monthly active users (MAU) fell 4% year over year from 304 million to 293 million. However, Opera GX, its highest monetizing browser, saw its user base grow 14% in the quarter to 34 million MAUs. The company also noted that its new Opera Air browser, targeting Western users, was downloaded 500,000 times in its first two months. The browser was designed to integrate science-backed mindfulness to reduce digital stress and promote focus. Also on the innovation front, Opera has turned to agentic AI with its Browser Operator. The company said that while users are still in control, the browser could help with things such as making travel bookings and even ordering flowers to a particular hotel room. The company said in a live demo it was able to book a trip to Lisbon, Portugal; find a Portuguese florist; and fill a shopping cart with the specified flowers, along with all relevant delivery and payment information, all with English prompts. The user then just had to click the final checkout. On the profitability front, Opera's adjusted EPS rose 35% to $0.27 and adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) climbed 29% to $32.3 million. Looking ahead, the company forecast Q2 revenue to rise by around 24% to between $134 million to $138 million. It projected adjusted EBITDA to increase by 23% to a range of $30 million to $32 million. It also boosted its full year guidance. The company now expects revenue to range from $567 million to $582 million, representing a 20% annual growth at the midpoint. That's up from a prior revenue outlook of between $555 million to $570 million. It's now looking for adjusted EBITDA of between $135 million to $145 million, up from a prior range of $132 million to $138 million. Opera was optimistic it would be able to navigate the current uncertain macro environment and political tensions. It also thinks any open competition that results from big tech antitrust cases could be a long-term opportunity. Trading a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 14.6 times this year's analyst estimates with 20% projected revenue growth, Opera stock is not expensive. The company also has $103.5 million in net cash and an investment in OPay valued at $258.3 million on its balance sheet. OPay is a fast-growing fintech company that provides digital financial services in Africa, primarily in Nigeria. Previously, Opera had to increase the carrying value of its Opay investment due to the rapid expansion of its customer base. Opera expects OPay to grow its revenue at a 35% annual rate between 2023 and 2030. Opera owns more than a 9% stake in OPay, which is a nice asset some investors may not know about. Given its strong advertising growth, inexpensive valuation, and investment in OPay, Opera looks like a solid stock to own at current levels. Before you buy stock in Opera, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Opera wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $607,048!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $668,193!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 880% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 161% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of April 28, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Opera. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Opera Shares Jump as Forecast Is Music to Investors' Ears. But Is It Too Late to Buy the Stock? was originally published by The Motley Fool
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Y Combinator neobank Djamo raises $17M with 1M users across Francophone Africa
Djamo is one of several digital banking startups targeting Africa's underbanked. But unlike many that focus on large markets like Nigeria, Egypt, or South Africa, Djamo has carved out a niche in Francophone West Africa, specifically Ivory Coast and more recently Senegal, where it now serves over one million customers. The Y Combinator-backed fintech just raised $17 million to expand its product suite for retail customers and the thousands of small businesses it has onboarded in the last two years. The equity round, the largest ever for an Ivorian startup, surpasses Djamo's $14 million Series A in 2022 and reflects continued investor confidence in its mission to make banking accessible and affordable. Co-founder and CEO Hassan Bourgi declined to share the new valuation but said it has doubled since the last raise. Bourgi founded Djamo with chief product and technical officer Régis Bamba in 2020 to close the financial access gap in French-speaking African countries, where few adults have bank accounts. Traditional banks in the region often cater to the affluent, leaving most of the population reliant on mobile money, a cheaper method that includes using phone numbers to make financial transactions. Mobile money has been instrumental in expanding financial access across Africa. As of 2022, 28% of adults in Sub-Saharan Africa had a mobile money account, per the World Bank, and the region holds more than half of the world's total. But that progress has also created a ceiling. Most mobile money platforms offer basic services: cash-in, cash-out, P2P transfers, and bill payments. While useful, they don't unlock more advanced financial tools like credit, investments, or long-term savings. Djamo is positioning itself between mobile money and traditional banking. The startup offers the accessibility of mobile money with the financial depth of a bank account, a similar playbook that Softbank-backed OPay and Transsion-owned PalmPay have used to scale to tens of millions of customers in Nigeria. Its target is a growing segment of users, mostly younger customers, who've outgrown mobile money wallets but still find traditional banks expensive, outdated, or inaccessible, the founders say. 'These users are evolving,' said Bourgi. 'But they don't want to go where their parents went, into institutions with predatory pricing and aren't adapted to the new generation of customers. And this is what we are building, trying to become the go-to bank for this huge cohort of customers that is evolving now to more complex, wealth-building financing opportunities.' Consumer finance app Djamo eyes Francophone Africa expansion, backed by new $14M round Since our last coverage, Djamo has expanded beyond cards and peer-to-peer transfers. The Ivorian fintech now offers savings vaults, investment products — thanks to the region's first fintech-issued brokerage license — and salary-linked bank accounts, which Bourgi sees as important to boosting customer engagement. Like many neobanks, Djamo attracts banked users who treat it as a secondary account for smoother bill payments and mobile money integration. But it's the unbanked, more difficult to activate, who show greater long-term potential. These users, who make up over 55% of Djamo's base, often treat the app as their primary financial service. Bourgi says nine in ten users who rely on Djamo as their main account come from this segment. To reach more of them, Djamo has adopted a hybrid approach, combining its app with offline agents who meet customers in person to facilitate transactions, similar to the mobile money model now more broadly adopted by fintechs across the continent. Currently, only 5–10% of Djamo users receive salaries through the app. 'The next phase for us,' Bourgi said, 'is figuring out how to move from 10% to 50% of our users getting their salaries paid directly into Djamo.' Meanwhile, Djamo is also ramping up services for small businesses—about 10,000 of them, many of whom started as retail users. According to CTO Bamba, the startup now provides bulk payments, payment links, and QR code tools to help merchants accept and manage payments directly within the app. The fintech generates revenue from merchant fees on online card purchases and a premium tier plan, which 25% of users pay for. Bamba adds that the company is exploring additional revenue streams, including lending and earning interest on customer deposits. It is in the process of securing licenses that will allow it to offer interest-bearing savings accounts and credit products. Djamo's founders say the company has grown revenue 5x since 2022 and processed more than $4.5 billion in transactions since launch. Africa's newest fintech unicorns are winning by keeping their feet on the ground With its recent expansion into Senegal, Djamo has entered a market dominated by Wave, one of Africa's largest fintechs known for low-cost mobile money transfers. But rather than compete directly, Djamo positions itself as a complementary service, offering a digital banking experience where users can store funds and access more advanced tools like savings, investments, and credit. Now a 250-person team, Djamo is betting that its new round of funding, led by pan-African, gender-focused VC Janngo Capital, will help it scale those services across French-speaking Africa. 'We are thrilled to lead the largest VC round in Ivory Coast and double down on Djamo, a mission-driven fintech transforming access to financial services across Francophone West Africa,' said Fatoumata Bâ, founder and executive chair of Janngo Capital. 'In a region where fewer than 25% of adults have access to formal financial services, and where women are twice as likely to be excluded, this is a vital mission. With women making up a third of its users, Djamo is not only closing the gender gap but unlocking economic opportunity at scale.' Other investors participating in the round include SANAD Fund for MSMEs (managed by Finance in Motion), Partech, Oikocredit, Enza Capital, and Y Combinator. Sign in to access your portfolio
