A New Fund For Financial Services Startups Around The World From The Central Bank of South Africa
With this opportunity, South Africa’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of South Africa (Sarb) is calling on all financial services focused startups from around the world to pitch to it. To that effect, Sarb has launched a competition aimed at fintech firms that are developing innovative solutions to the challenges within the financial services industry.
Here Is The Deal
- The call is contained in a statement recently issued by the Reserve Bank which states that the initiative — the Global Fintech Hackcelerator @Southern Africa — aims to create a platform for fintechs to demonstrate their innovative solutions to the complex financial challenges in the region.
What Startups Can Gain From The Programme
Shortlisted fintechs will be invited to showcase their solutions at the Southern African demo day on 29 October in Johannesburg.
At the event in South Africa, a panel of judges from the Reserve Bank and the Financial Sector Conduct Authority (FSCA) as well as local industry experts will select and announce two winning solutions.
Each of the competition’s winners will receive:
- A stipend towards travel expenses to attend the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival
- An opportunity to pitch their solution live and engage with industry experts during the Hackcelerator Demo Day at the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival where the top three winners will each receive a cash prize (the Reserve Bank did not specify how much this would be)
- Funding to develop a contextualised proof of concept, to be deployed within a year from the demo day
Who Can Apply?
The competition, managed by fintech acceleration programme KPMG Matchi, is open to firms from around the world.
Application Timelines
Applications close on 8 September.
Winners of the Reserve Bank competition will receive a stipend to attend the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based Lawyer with special focus on Business Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Entertainment and Technology Law. He is also an award-winning writer. Working for notable organizations so far has exposed him to some of industry best practices in business, finance strategies, law, dispute resolution, and data analytics both in Nigeria and across the world.