Togo: Daba Finance Wins 2024 Ecobank Fintech Challenge

Economic governance

Monday, 30 September 2024 18:07

Togo: Daba Finance Wins 2024 Ecobank Fintech Challenge

(Togo First) - Daba Finance, an Ivorian fintech company, won the 2024 Ecobank Fintech Challenge, taking home $50,000 and a strategic partnership with Ecobank. Kenya's Melanin Kapital finished second in the competition, winning $10,000, while Guinean fintech YMO took third place with a prize of $5,000. The People's Choice Award went to Togolese startup MiaPay.

The competition took place on September 27 in Lomé, Togo, where 12 finalists pitched their ideas after being selected from over 1,550 applications from 70 countries including Kenya, Rwanda, Nigeria, South Africa, Cameroon, Togo, DRC, and Guinea.

Daba Finance aims to "democratize investment in Africa," according to its CEO and co-founder, Junior Boum III, who started the company with Anthony Miclet. Many initiatives struggle to reach local populations often excluded from traditional financial systems. Daba Finance offers a "simple and secure" solution fostering investment in African markets.

Through a unified investment platform, Daba Finance allows users—both individuals and institutions—to invest in markets often deemed risky and hard to access. The platform provides a wide range of investment opportunities, including equities, bonds, and mutual funds. "Everything is designed to simplify access to financial markets," Boum III explained.

Daba Finance focuses on products from the West African Economic and Monetary Union (WAEMU) zone, but it can also invest in other countries for assets like venture capital. However, for listed markets—such as stocks, bonds, and mutual funds—the focus is mainly on the WAEMU zone, according to Boum III.

Daba Finance collaborates with several management and intermediation companies (SGIs) across the region, as SGIs are the only authorized intermediaries on the BRVM stock exchange. "We are not replacing them; we are collaborating with them," Boum III stated. Daba has partnerships with five or six SGIs, particularly in Ivory Coast and Senegal, including BOA Capital, EDC Investment, BNI Finance, Imparxis, and CGF Group.

Boum III noted that fintech offers SGIs a chance to reach investors they currently do not engage, especially internationally. "There are around 100,000 active accounts on BRVM spread across 40 SGIs. We bring millions of potential users from the USA, Europe, and other parts of Africa who are not yet familiar with these markets," he explained.

Launched in 2021, Daba Finance has over 25,000 users worldwide, primarily in the US, Europe, and French-speaking West Africa. "But the potential is still immense: in the WAEMU zone alone, 200 million people are not yet investing, and this a largely untapped market," says the firm’s CEO.

In addition to its investment platform for individuals and institutions, Daba Finance develops new products, including savings solutions, and is committed to bolstering partnerships in the tech industry. The goal is to give more Africans access to financial opportunities that were once reserved for an elite few. For Boum III, this is just the beginning: "We're still far from our maximum potential. Our ambition is to reach millions of investors across the continent and beyond." He stated last January that within five years, he wants Daba to be "the first destination for any investor looking to start or manage their investments on the African continent."

Daba Finance won the Ecobank Fintech Challenge and received $50,000 along with a strategic partnership with Ecobank. This partnership will help the Ivorian startup expand its operations across Africa. "Ecobank mainly provides us with distribution, facilitates payments, and puts its vast network across the continent at our disposal," said Junior Boum III, CEO of Daba Finance. He added, "They also offer us technical support if required."

Jérémi Awori, CEO of Ecobank, noted that through their Sandbox, a dedicated API platform, they give winning fintechs the chance to test and refine their products and integrate them into Ecobank's ecosystem. This allows them to deploy their solutions across Africa and to the diaspora.

Daba Finance joins over 60 fintechs that have participated in the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship program since its launch in 2017. This initiative provides technical and strategic support to help startups navigate the complex financial landscape.

Fiacre E. Kakpo

REFORMS OVERVIEW

STARTING A BUSINESS (more info)

At the fifteenth position, worldwide, and first in Africa, under the Starting a Business index of the 2020 Doing Business ranking, Togo sustains its reformative dynamics with more reforms….

ENFORCING CONTRACTS (more info)

Compared to some years ago when it was one of the lowest rankers under the Doing Business’ Enforcing Contracts indicator, Togo, leveraging many efforts to improve its business climate, was able to jump significantly on the index in the recent years... .

CONTRACT EXECUTION (more info)

Creation of special chambers of commerce for small debts • Creation of chambers of commerce at the Court of Appeal • Civil and commercial cases now handled by distinct clerks • Establishment of commercial courts in Lomé and Kara • Lawyers and bailiffs now have access to the FORSETI COMMERCIAL platform • A maximum period of 100 days was fixed to settle a commercial dispute .

TRADING ACROSS BORDERS (more info)

In comparison to previous years,Togo has significantly improved its ranking under the“Trading across borders” indicator by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

In comparison to previous years, Togo has significantly improved its ranking on the “Trading across borders” index by adopting multiple reforms that focus mainly on the digitalization and reduction in delays, for import and export procedures related to import and export.

CONSTRUCTION PERMIT (more info)

After moving from the 133rd to 127th place under the 2020 Doing Business’ construction permit index, Togo intends to reiterate this feat in the coming edition of the global ranking. To this end, it has introduced this year multiple reforms.

GETTING ELECTRICITY (more info)

Over the past two years, Togo’s ranking under the Doing Business’ Getting electricity and water indicator has increased consistently. Owing this performance to multiple reforms aimed at making it easier for businesses to access power and water, Lomé plans to introduce even more reforms this year to keep up its improvements.

REGISTERING A PROPERTY (more info)

Out of all the 'Doing Business’ indicators, Property Registration is where Togo has improved the most since 2018. Indeed, after spending years in the lowest part of this ranking, the country now seeks to beat Rwanda which is the best performer on this index in Africa. To do so, Lomé has been introducing many reforms, with the latest batch implemented this year.

PUBLIC PROCUREMENT (more info)

From professionalization to digitization, through legislative regulations, Togo’s public procurement framework is constantly being modernized. Several reforms have been implemented to improve the sector much to the benefit of the private sector, which is the focus of the National Development Plan.

PAYING TAXES AND DUTIES (more info)

To improve its business environment, Togo introduced some important reforms related to the payment of tax and duties. From the replacement of some taxes to the cancellation of others through exemptions, the country has only one objective: offer the most attractive tax framework to investors and economic operators. To achieve this, the authorities relied on digitization.