NextGen Fintech Accelerator, a partnership between Stanbic Bank Ghana and The Tech Entrepreneurship Initiative ‘Make-IT in Africa,’ a programme implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development to help fast-track their journey towards commercially scalable and sustainable impact-oriented ventures.
NextGen Fintech Accelerator program will assist growth stage technology companies in their market validation and customer acquisition phase in Ghana. The rolling accelerator programme is focused on product validation, customer acquisition, and investment readiness. It is a unique in a way that will scale up innovative technology and business-based solutions to drive sustainable development.
The accelerator program will run one cohort of 20 selected early-to-growth stage FinTech startups. The Joint Stanbic Bank & GIZ NextGen FinTech Accelerator” aims at contributing to UN (United Nations) Sustainable Development Goal eight by supporting tech start-ups in the field of FinTech to help advance their solutions in the local environment. The programme features a 6-months long intensive curriculum–based training, after which participants will engage in a Mentorship program by experts from Stanbic Bank.
The Bank of Ghana (BoG), which is the regulator of payment systems, reports that about 71 fintech companies operate in the country. FinTech’s have proven to be the future of banking, especially in these times of the COVID- 19 Pandemic, where the use of digital payment systems is increasingly becoming mainstream. However, the Fintech Ecosystem in Ghana is at a blossoming stage hence the need for such initiative.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Stanbic Bank Ghana, Kwamina K. Asomaning,indicated that, their priority is to build the capacity of FinTech businesses and startups through a 6-month intensive curriculum–based training. The training will focus on reconstructing and validating the business models to scale and adhere to industry best practices. The training will also refine, test and validate their growth strategies as well as operational framework. Ultimately, this initiative will coach and nurture the FinTechs to be investor ready.
Stanbic Bank, since 2018, has been investing in young entrepreneurs through work-based learning, coaching, and the provision of an enabling environment to equip young people with the skills needed for work. Interest applicants can register here .
Find out more here