The competition, which seeks to foster innovation and partnership within the African financial landscape, attracted over 1,550 applications from 70 countries.

Forty startups initially made it to the semi-finals, with twelve ultimately selected to compete in the grand finale scheduled for September 27 in Lomé, Togo.

The event will be live-streamed on Ecobank’s social media platforms for a global audience.

Two Kenyan startups, BuuPass and Melanin Kapital Neobank, are among the finalists, alongside Nigeria’s Sawport Video Banking as a Virtual Branch and Sproutly.

The rest of the finalists are Daba Finance (Ivory Coast), EasyEquities (South Africa), Exuus (Rwanda), MiaPay (Togo), PaySika (Cameroon), PROBOUTIK (Senegal), Vaultpay (DRC) and YMO Africa (Guinea).

The Ecobank Fintech Challenge offers startups the opportunity to partner with the bank and scale their solutions across its network of 35 African countries.

The ultimate winner will receive the US$50,000 cash prize and the chance to collaborate with Ecobank.