Ecobank Group has announced Daba Finance, the Ivorian Fintech, as the Grand Winner of its flagship Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2024.
Twelve innovative fintech start-ups competed to impress the esteemed panel of five judges for the $50,000 prize.
The judges, comprised of renowned industry experts, evaluated the finalists based on criteria such as innovation, market potential, scalability and team strength.
At the end of the competition, Daba Finance took home $50,000 with its solution to make investing accessible to everyone by offering a one-stop investment platform for trading stocks, bonds, and other financial products.
The CEO of Daba Finance, Boum III JR, expressed gratitude for the opportunity and the recognition, stating,
“Winning this challenge propels our mission to make investing and wealth-building opportunities available for all. With Ecobank as our partner, we are accelerating the journey to making our innovation accessible to millions and bringing financial empowerment to the continent.”
The judges also rewarded two additional fintechs whose solutions made a lasting impression. Melanin Kapital from Kenya took second place, winning $10,000 and Guinean’s fintech YMO secured third place with $5,000. For the first time, the general public was allowed to vote for their preferred fintech, and MiaPay from Togo won the “Public Choice Award” for this year’s edition.
According to Ecobank, the 12 finalists were selected from a record 1,550 Fintech Challenge 2024 entrants from 70 countries, demonstrating the competition’s rising prominence over its seven years.
At the Ceremony, all the finalists were enrolled into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship programme, which provides them with exposure to investors and industry leaders, access to Ecobank’s Banking Sandbox to test and develop their innovative solutions, with the possibility of scaling across the Bank’s large pan-African footprint.
Group CEO of Ecobank, Mr. Jeremy Awori, stated, “The African continent is a hotbed for fintech innovation globally and is constantly pushing the boundaries to enhance convenience and establish new digitally enabled capabilities.
“Ecobank’s Fintech Strategy centres on leveraging our borderless pan-African digital platform, to provide cutting edge solutions to fintechs that will benefit millions of Africans. I am particularly proud of what we have achieved so far with fintechs through our annual Ecobank Fintech Challenge.”
He added: “I am hugely impressed by the quality of the pitch of our twelve finalists, and I want to congratulate Daba Finance for making it to the top of the podium. I look forward to seeing how our collaboration will help them grow and scale.”