Flutterwave wins Fintech of the Year of African Bankers awards

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Africa most valuable startup “Flutterwave” has been awarded “Fintech of the Year” at the African Banker Awards in recognition of its effort to the financial technology sector in Africa.

The award honors Flutterwave and other companies and individuals for setting new standards of contribution and innovation to the growth of Africa’s banking industry over the past year.

The award is Flutterwave’s third international recognition in 2024 after the fintech behemoth was included in CNBC’s Disruptor 50 list and Fast Company’s Most Innovative Companies.

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While the timeline for Flutterwave’s IPO is still uncertain, the recognition they’ve received could potentially validate their aspirations to become a publicly traded company. Since August 2023, there have been speculations about the fintech firm’s IPO, which were further fueled when its CEO, Olugbenga Agboola, announced that they would proceed with their 2022 IPO plans. Additionally, Flutterwave has recently undergone some changes in its executive leadership following a series of notable departures.

“We are incredibly honored to receive this prestigious award,” said Agboola.

The award event took place at the JW Marriott Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, where over 300 of Africa’s leading figures in banking and finance were attending the African Banker Awards gala.

“This recognition is a testament to the hard work, dedication, and creativity of the entire team at Flutterwave. It also reaffirms our mission to simplify payments for endless possibilities, and we remain committed to building solutions that enable multinationals to expand in and within Africa, and also supporting African companies to compete globally,” an excerpt from the statement read

Flutterwave also received approval in principle for a payment aggregator licence from the Central Bank of Mozambique today as it looks to expand into the southeastern African region. The licence, if approved, will allow Flutterwave to support businesses expanding into Mozambique and global enterprises expanding into Africa.

Flutterwave’s key business is processing online payments, enabling international businesses like Uber to accept payments from African businesses and customers. The fintech allows these businesses and multinationals to accept various forms of payments, like mobile money, card payments, and bank transfers.