The Bloomberg Effect and Africa’s Four Fintech Darlings
Spoiler alert: The financial revolution wasn’t supposed to start in Africa. But someone forgot to tell these four startups.
While Wall Street was busy congratulating itself on inventing yet another way to trade cryptocurrencies, something extraordinary was happening 8,000 miles away. In the bustling streets of Luanda, the rural villages of Zambia, the townships of Cape Town, and the tech hubs of Lagos, four companies were quietly dismantling centuries-old barriers to financial inclusion – one transaction at a time.
Then Bloomberg noticed.
When Bloomberg released its inaugural Top 25 African Startups to Watch in 2025, selecting just 25 from 2,000 applications, four fintech companies made the cut. For anyone looking, this was the validation needed that Africa’s fintech scene has evolved from scrappy underdogs to legitimate game-changers ready to export their innovations globally.
Let’s dive into why these four companies are about to become household names, and what their Bloomberg coronation means for a continent that’s been rewriting the rules of finance since mobile money was born.
Anda (Angola): Turning Chaos Into Opportunity
A Problem That Couldn’t Be Ignored…
Angola’s streets tell a story that official statistics can’t capture. Every morning, 1.2 million motorcycle taxi drivers, representing 3.3% of the entire national workforce, wake up to hustle for survival in an entirely informal economy. No contracts, no insurance, no access to credit, and definitely no path to ownership of the bikes they depend on for income.
Behind each statistic is a driver, who spends his days navigating Luanda’s chaotic traffic, earning just enough to rent someone else’s motorcycle for another day. Waking up the next day to do it again. Next year, he’ll still be paying rent instead of building equity. It’s a poverty trap disguised as entrepreneurship.
And The Solution That Changes Everything
Founded in 2022, Anda looked at this massive informal economy and saw what others missed: not a problem to manage, but an opportunity to transform and their ride-to-own model is elegantly simple yet revolutionary.
Instead of traditional lending that requires collateral most drivers don’t have, Anda provides asset financing that turns the motorcycle itself into the collateral. Drivers start with structured payments that gradually transfer ownership while they build credit history; often for the first time in their lives.
Anda didn’t stop at financing though. They built an entire ecosystem: professional driver training, official certifications, GPS tracking systems, comprehensive insurance, emergency response services, and even a customer-facing app for ride-hailing and deliveries. They’re essentially formalizing an entire sector of the economy.
“We’re not just giving people motorcycles,” explains the founding team. “We’re giving them dignity, security, and a path to building generational wealth.”
Why This Matters Beyond Angola
Anda’s model addresses a continent-wide challenge: how do you bring millions of informal workers into the formal economy without destroying the flexibility that makes informal work attractive? Their success in Angola is already attracting attention from other African countries with similar informal transport sectors.
eShandi (Zambia): The AI-Powered David Taking On Financial Goliaths
The Banking Desert That Sparked a Revolution
In rural Zambia, asking for a bank loan used to be like asking for unicorn tearsn theoretically possible, practically impossible. Traditional banks saw risk where eShandi’s founders saw resilience. They saw unbanked communities where the founders saw underserved markets ripe for innovation.
The numbers paint a stark picture: across Africa, over 400 million adults remain unbanked, not because they don’t want financial services, but because traditional banking models simply don’t work for their realities. Collateral requirements, documentation hurdles, and geographic barriers create an insurmountable fortress around formal finance.
Building Tomorrow’s Bank Today
What started in 2019 as PremierCredit has evolved into eShandi; a digital-first financial services platform that uses artificial intelligence to make lending decisions in minutes instead of months. Licensed and regulated by the Bank of Zambia, they’ve cracked the code on serving customers that traditional banks wrote off as “unbankable.”
Here’s how their magic works: Instead of requiring traditional collateral, eShandi’s AI algorithms analyze alternative data points – mobile money transaction history, social connections, business patterns, and behavioral indicators that reveal creditworthiness in ways banks never considered. A small-scale farmer who’s never had a formal bank account suddenly has a credit score based on her actual financial behavior.
Their product suite reads like a comprehensive challenger bank playbook: instant collateral-free digital loans with flexible repayment terms, affordable insurance with immediate payouts, seamless payment services, mobile banking, merchant services, and financial management tools.
But the numbers tell the real story: from $91,000 in revenue in 2020 to $12 million in 2023. That’s not just growth – that’s the kind of hockey stick trajectory that makes venture capitalists weak in the knees.
The Pan-African Vision
eShandi isn’t content with conquering Zambia. They’ve already expanded into Zimbabwe, Kenya, and South Africa, with their sights set on becoming Africa’s first truly pan-African digital bank. Their $12 million in funding from investors like Enygma Ventures, INOKS Capital, and Mastercard suggests they’re well on their way.
“We’re not just building a bank,” says co-founder Chilufya Mutale-Mwila. “We’re building the financial infrastructure for Africa’s next phase of economic development.”
iiDENTIFii (South Africa): The Guardians of Digital Trust
The Identity Crisis Nobody Talks About
Here’s a problem Silicon Valley’s brightest minds haven’t cracked: How do you verify someone’s identity when traditional documentation systems are unreliable, when deepfake technology is democratizing fraud, and when onboarding friction kills 90% of potential customers?
In Africa, this is not only a theoretical problem but an everyday reality. Traditional know-your-customer (KYC) processes assume customers have pristine documentation, stable addresses, and patience for weeks-long verification processes. These assumptions crumble when applied to Africa’s diverse and mobile populations.
Meanwhile, global fraud is exploding. Deepfakes, synthetic identities, and digital replay attacks are becoming so sophisticated that traditional biometric systems are failing. The very technology meant to enhance security is being weaponized by fraudsters.
The 4D Revolution
Founded in 2018, iiDENTIFii didn’t just solve these problems – they leapfrogged them entirely with their proprietary 4D Liveness technology. This isn’t just another facial recognition system; it’s a patented biometric solution that can detect life and verify identity while remaining resilient to the latest fraud techniques.
Here’s what makes it revolutionary: Their system combines advanced liveness detection, facial verification, and identity document authentication into a seamless 30-second process that works on any device. No specialized hardware, no lengthy procedures, no compromise on security.
The proof is in the performance: over 50 million face match operations across Africa have tested their technology in real-world conditions, achieving exceptional accuracy while maintaining security against increasingly sophisticated attacks.
The Enterprise Revolution
iiDENTIFii’s client roster reads like a who’s who of African finance: major banks, insurance companies, retailers, and multinational enterprises across banking, insurance, retail, e-commerce, healthcare, gaming, and education sectors.
Their value proposition is simple but powerful: onboard customers in under 30 seconds, reduce acquisition costs, meet compliance standards, minimize drop-offs during authentication, and ensure data privacy – all while maintaining security that exceeds global standards.
Their October 2022 Series A round of $15 million, led by pan-African investment firm Arise, validates their approach and positions them for continental expansion.
Klasha (Nigeria): The Cross-Border Payment Revolution
The $2 Trillion Problem
Africa’s trade flows tell a frustrating story. Despite being neighbors, African countries often find it easier to send money to London than to each other. Cross-border payments are plagued by high fees, long settlement times, opacity, and regulatory complexity that strangles trade and remittances.
For African businesses trying to access global markets or diaspora communities sending money home, traditional banking rails are expensive, slow, and unreliable. A simple payment from Nigeria to Kenya might bounce through correspondent banks in New York and London, accumulating fees and delays at every stop.
This isn’t just inconvenient, but it’s economically devastating. The African Continental Free Trade Area represents a $3.4 trillion market, but payment infrastructure hasn’t evolved to support this ambition.
Building the Financial Highway
Founded in 2021, Klasha tackled this challenge with the urgency it deserved. Their platform provides APIs and financial infrastructure that allow businesses to collect, send, and hold funds in different currencies with minimal friction.
Their product suite includes virtual multi-currency accounts, collection and payout APIs, and cross-border wire services that facilitate fast, cost-effective transactions in over 120 currencies. They’ve processed more than 140 million transactions across seven African countries: Nigeria, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Uganda, Zambia, and Sierra Leone.
But here’s what sets them apart: In 2023, Klasha obtained a Money Services Business (MSB) license from the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), authorizing them to operate as a regulated currency exchange and money transmitter in the United States. This isn’t just regulatory compliance – it’s strategic positioning for global expansion.
The Network Effect
Klasha’s $6.5 million in funding from American Express, Greycroft, Seedcamp, and Global Ventures reflects strategic partnerships that could accelerate their global ambitions. In other words, your money will definitely be leaving Kansas.
American Express’s investment is particularly significant, suggesting that established financial players are recognizing African fintechs not just as regional solutions, but as global innovations worth incorporating into their own strategies.
The Bloomberg Effect: What This Recognition Really Means
For the Companies: Rocket Fuel for Growth
With Bloomberg’s recognition being rocket fuel, it has successfully put a spotlight on these companies and we can expect several things to happen simultaneously:
Credibility acceleration: These startups no longer need to spend precious pitch time explaining why African fintech matters. Bloomberg’s validation provides instant credibility with international investors, partners, and customers.
Capital magnetism: International investors who’ve been circling African fintech cautiously now have permission to dive in. Expect funding announcements in the coming months as venture capital flows toward Bloomberg-validated opportunities.
Partnership catalysis: Multinational corporations and established financial institutions will view these companies as legitimate partners rather than interesting experiments. Strategic partnerships that might have taken years to develop could materialize in months.
Talent magnetism: Top-tier talent from around the world will start viewing these companies as legitimate career destinations, not just regional players.
For the Continent: The Coming of Age Moment
This Bloomberg recognition represents more than individual company success but is an obvious indication of Africa’s fintech coming-of-age moment. For years, African financial innovation has been the industry’s best-kept secret. Mobile money was invented here. Digital-first banking was perfected here. Financial inclusion strategies that work for the unbanked were pioneered here.
But global recognition has been elusive. Silicon Valley VCs spoke about African fintech in hushed, uncertain tones. European investors treated it as philanthropy rather than profit opportunity. Asian financial giants largely ignored it entirely.
Bloomberg’s list changes this narrative definitively. iiDENTIFii’s anti-fraud technology could revolutionize global identity verification. eShandi’s AI-powered lending model could transform credit in emerging markets worldwide. Klasha’s cross-border infrastructure could facilitate South-South trade beyond Africa. Anda’s formalization playbook could be exported to any economy with large informal sectors.
The Ripple Effect: Success Breeding Success
Perhaps most importantly, this recognition creates a demonstration effect that will inspire the next generation of African fintech entrepreneurs. Every successful exit, every unicorn valuation, every Bloomberg feature creates a new cohort of founders who think bigger and dream bolder.
The message is clear: African fintech isn’t just about solving local problems anymore, but building global solutions that just happen to be developed in Africa.
The Plot Twist: Africa as the Global Lab
Here’s the delicious irony of this story: while Western financial institutions debate the future of banking in boardrooms and strategy sessions, African fintechs are busy building that future in real-time, with real customers, solving real problems.
These four companies represent something profound: proof that financial innovation doesn’t require perfect infrastructure, established banking relationships, or centuries of regulatory precedent. Sometimes the best innovations come from the places with the biggest constraints, where entrepreneurs have no choice but to reimagine entire systems from scratch.
Bloomberg didn’t just recognize four successful startups, but have successfully identified the early architects of tomorrow’s global financial system. The revolution was never supposed to start in Africa, but revolutions rarely follow the script.
The future of finance is being written in Lagos, Lusaka, Cape Town, and Luanda. Bloomberg just handed out the pens.