In a market long dominated by mobile money, a new fintech venture is set to redefine the financial landscape in Ghana. Affinity Africa, a promising digital banking startup, has raised $8 million in seed funding to broaden its range of financial products nationwide.
This move comes at a time when traditional banks in Ghana continue to report robust after-tax returns on equity—though their profits are largely fee-driven—while millions remain underserved due to high operational costs, extensive paperwork, and slow onboarding processes.
Since its launch last October, Affinity Africa has quickly built a customer base exceeding 50,000. Remarkably, 65% of its users had never engaged with formal banking services before, and over 60% are women working in the informal sector. Tarek Mouganie, the startup’s founder and CEO, explained to TechCrunch,
“Ghana’s regulator is focused on protecting consumers, especially in deposit-taking institutions. We had to prove strong risk management, break even as a microfinance institution, and align our mission with the government’s goal of banking the unbanked. What ultimately convinced them was how our digital platform reduces friction and lowers banking costs for individuals and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).”
Mouganie’s impressive background spans academia and finance. With degrees from the U.K. and experience as a director at Man Group, a global investment fund valued at $160 billion. He has worked on major IPOs including those for Visa and Compartamos, Latin America’s largest microfinance institution.
Driven by the persistent challenge of financial exclusion, he returned to Ghana a decade ago with a vision to build a retail bank for MSMEs modeled on top global institutions yet tailored to Africa’s realities.
To kickstart this ambitious project, Tarek and his team initially raised $2 million in 2020 – money that reportedly included proceeds from the sale of his London property – to acquire a microfinance bank. This bank, the first in over 10 years to receive a savings and loans licence in Ghana, served as a testing ground for their innovative solutions.
By 2022, an additional $3 million in pre-seed funding further boosted their efforts, and after months of stealth testing, the Affinity Africa app officially launched following approval from the Bank of Ghana.
The platform offers free savings and current accounts without transaction limits and begins credit scoring immediately based on transaction history. In just a few months, the fintech has extended credit lines at monthly interest rates between 3% and 7%, disbursed over $15 million in loans, and maintained a low non-performing loan rate of 3%.
Affinity Africa also employs a hybrid approach by complementing its digital offerings with an agent network. About 26,000 of its 50,000 customers were onboarded via agents, and 55% of those have transitioned fully to digital banking, underscoring the effectiveness of this blended strategy.
The recent seed round was led by European venture capital firms Grazia Equity (Germany) and BACKED VC (London), marking their first African investment. Additional investors include Enza Capital, Launch Africa, Renew Capital, Finca International, Attijariwafa Ventures, ImpactAssets, and Eldon Capital. As Andre de Haes, founder and managing partner at Backed, commented: “At Backed, we are founder-first, and we couldn’t think of a better person to build Africa’s local bank than Tarek.”
With its innovative model and strong international backing, Affinity Africa is well-positioned to bridge Ghana’s significant financial inclusion gap, offering a more efficient, cost-effective, and accessible alternative to traditional banking.
