Despite a relatively small number of deals, investment in Francophone African fintech is steadily growing this year. The recent failures of companies like Ivory Coast’s Bizao and Moroccan remittance startup YallaXash are forcing a change in strategy, pushing investors toward ventures with deeper moats. An analysis of 2025 funding data by Launch Base Africa confirms this trend: the era of funding simple consumer solutions appears to be making way for a far more rigorous investment thesis.

This new focus is on the gritty, foundational layers of the digital economy. Investors, from regional powerhouses like AfricInvest to global giants like Visa, are placing multimillion-dollar bets on sophisticated, structural solutions. They are backing the complex “plumbing” for cross-border trade, asset-financing models for the informal sector, and super apps that aim to own the entire customer lifecycle. These aren’t just incremental improvements; they are the new operating systems for regional commerce.

This strategic shift highlights a focus on ventures that address fundamental infrastructure gaps and is defined by three core trends shaping the future of fintech investment in Francophone Africa.

The key trends can be categorized into three main areas:

1. Foundational B2B Infrastructure and Payments “Plumbing”

A significant portion of investment is flowing into companies that are building the essential infrastructure needed for a digital economy to function. These are not necessarily consumer-facing brands but are critical enablers for other businesses.

• Focus Area: B2B Payments, Cross-Border Transactions, and Operations Automation.
• Why it’s attractive: These SaaS platforms automate complex, manual, and costly processes like reconciliation, chargeback management, and regulatory reporting. By making banks and payment companies more efficient and compliant, they indirectly but powerfully enable the entire financial ecosystem to scale and offer better services. They create “sticky” revenue models and have the potential to scale across the continent as regional trade grows.

Funding activities this year:

• PayTic (Morocco): In April, PayTic raised $4 million to automate complex back-office operations for banks and card issuers. Essentially, PayTic sells software to banks and financial companies that issue payment cards. Their software automates the tedious, complex, and error-prone administrative tasks that happen after a payment is made. This is a pure B2B SaaS play, indicating investor confidence in selling sophisticated software to financial institutions.
• REasy (Cameroon): Raised $1.8 million to connect local African payment systems (like Mobile Money) to global payment methods. For example, if a business in Cameroon uses Mobile Money but needs to pay a supplier in China who uses Alipay, REasy makes that possible. They solve the “currency and payment method mismatch” that has long hindered African SMEs in global trade.
• Cauridor (Côte d’Ivoire): Raised $3.5 million to build payment infrastructure for merchants, banks, and money transfer operators, explicitly targeting inefficiencies in the cross-border payment ecosystem. In other words, Cauridor is building the underlying network that allows money to move seamlessly between different countries and financial players in Francophone Africa. They provide the infrastructure for remittance companies, banks, and merchants to process cross-border payments efficiently. They are like a power grid for money transfers in the region. Instead of each bank or money transfer operator building its own inefficient connection, they can all plug into Cauridor’s network to send and receive money across borders faster and cheaper.
• Konnect (Tunisia): Backed by Visa, it provides payment acceptance tools (links, APIs, plugins) for businesses, acting as a key enabler for e-commerce. In summary, Konnect is the “Checkout” button for Tunisian e-commerce. Whether a business wants to send a payment link via text message or embed a payment system into its website, Konnect provides the ready-made technology to make it happen, eliminating a major technical hurdle for merchants.

2. Embedded Finance and Asset Financing

Investors are backing models that integrate financial services (lending, insurance) into other platforms, particularly in sectors with large, underserved informal workforces. This approach de-risks lending by tying it directly to income-generating activities.

• Focus Area: Asset financing for mobility, payroll-linked financial products.
• Why it’s attractive: It provides a clear path to profitability by financing productive assets. This model de-risks lending by tying it to a specific income-generating asset (a motorcycle) or a verifiable payroll. It formalizes the informal sector, creates customer loyalty, and addresses a clear, tangible need, leading to high adoption and lower default rates.

Funding activities this year:

• Gozem (Multi-country): Raised a substantial $30 million Series B to expand its vehicle financing ecosystem for professional drivers. The fintech component (financing motorcycles and cars) is the core of its growth strategy, embedded within its mobility super-app. For instance, a driver can get a motorcycle or car through Gozem, and instead of a large upfront payment, they pay for it in small, manageable installments. These daily or weekly payments are automatically deducted from the income they earn using the Gozem app. This turns a massive upfront cost into an affordable, long-term investment.
• BEE Group (Cameroon): Backed by Digital Africa, it provides digital financing for assets like motorcycles and smartphones to commercial drivers, using an alternative credit scoring system to reach the unbanked. 
• PAYDAY Takaful (Tunisia): Combines payroll-backed financing with micro-insurance (Takaful), embedding financial products directly into the employer-employee relationship for greater security. In this way, employees can access credit and insurance through their workplace. Repayments for loans are automatically deducted from their salary, making the process secure and simple for both the employee and the lender. This system provides a safety net and financial flexibility to workers by leveraging the stability of their employment.

3. The “Super App” and Digital Financial Marketplace Model

The strategy of creating a single platform for multiple services (ride-hailing, e-commerce, payments, lending) is gaining significant traction and attracting large investments. This model aims to capture the entire digital life of a consumer, increasing user retention and lifetime value.

• Focus Area: Integrating diverse digital services into one application.
• Why it’s attractive: Super apps create powerful network effects and offer multiple avenues for monetization. They become the primary digital interface for a large user base, creating a high barrier to entry for competitors.

Funding activities this year: 

• Gozem: The clearest example, using its $30 million raise to scale its super-app ecosystem, which already integrates mobility, e-commerce, and financial services. Think of Gozem as the “Swiss Army knife” of apps for its users. Initially for ride-hailing, it has expanded to let you shop for goods online (e-commerce) and use financial services like paying for items or financing a vehicle, all within a single, integrated platform. The goal is to become the primary app for daily life in the markets it serves.
• ORA Technologies (Morocco): Raised $1.9 million to build its super app combining fintech and e-commerce, demonstrating that this model is being pursued in North Africa as well. Essentially, ORA is creating a local competitor to apps like WeChat or Grab, but for Morocco. Instead of needing one app for banking and another for ordering food or shopping online, users can do both in the ORA app. This model combines the convenience of a digital mall with the utility of a digital wallet.
• EasyBank (Tunisia): While not a super app in the same vein, it acts as a financial aggregator or marketplace, connecting users to multiple financial products (loans, insurance) from various banks, simplifying access through a single digital platform. Put more succintly, EasyBank is the “Expedia or Kayak for banking.” Instead of visiting five different bank websites to compare loan rates and terms, a user can go to EasyBank’s single platform to see all their options side-by-side and apply directly. It simplifies the process of finding and securing the best financial deal.

Summary of Investor Types

The investors themselves are a diverse group, reflecting the maturing landscape:

• Pan-African and Regional VCs: AfricInvest, Launch Africa Ventures, Oui Capital, and Al Mada Ventures are actively leading rounds, showing strong local and regional expertise.
• International VCs & Accelerators: US-based funds like Hustle Fund and global players like Visa are participating, often in early-stage rounds, bringing international validation and networks.
• Development Finance Institutions (DFIs): Major players like BII (UK), Norfund (Norway), and Finnfund (Finland) are writing large checks (through debt and equity) for established scale-ups like Wave ($137.2 million), focusing on impact and financial inclusion at a massive scale.
• Corporate Venture Capital (CVC): Visa’s investment in Konnect and PayTic through its accelerator program highlights the strategic interest of global financial giants in the region’s infrastructure.