FINTECH | Zambian Fintech, Save & Remit, Emerges Winner at the 2023 Africa Fintech Summit Pitch Competition in Lusaka, Zambia

The Zambian fintech startup, Save & Remit, emerged the winner of the Alpha Expo Micro-Accelerator pitch competition at the 2023 Africa Fintech Summit held in Lusaka, Zambia.

As a result:

• Save & Remit secured a $2,500 cash prize, beating 14 other competing startups
• The second-place award was granted to Trade Lenda from Nigeria for their small business digital bank product
• aXiom Zorn from Uganda clinched third place for their data analytics platform that facilitates credit scoring for smallholder farmers

Established in 2020, Save & Remit’s primary offering is a digital savings platform designed for cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), allowing them to save and manage their finances through mobile phones.

The platform incorporates various features such as:

• A digital ledger book
• Digital identity
• Digital and financial literacy tools
• Disbursement functionalities
• Security measures

The app is available to the informal sector which includes village banking groups, SMEs, cooperatives and MSMEs.

“It’s great to win the pitch competition among such great other startups. In terms of our platform, we look forward to expanding beyond Zambia as research shows there is significant demand for the kind of service we offer,” founder Putty Muuka said.

“The winners and other pitching startups are building products that are solving problems across multiple sectors,” said Amara Muoneke, one of the judges for the pitch competition.

“You see the scalability in what they are building, and they also understand their customers and users very well.”

The 6th AlphaExpo Micro-Accelerator and Pitch Competition, which will took place at the event, is an ecosystem initiative designed to support early-stage startups by enabling them to pitch at the Africa Fintech Summit, demo their products, meet potential investors, partners, and customers, and clinch growth-enabling prizes.

Alumni of the AlphaExpo program have raised over $200 million since participating and include industry leaders such as:

• MarketForce
• Yellow Card App
• Asaak
• Piggyvest
• ArifPay
• Payhippo

and many others.

This year [2023], the program gave up to 15 African startups the opportunity to attend, exhibit, and pitch at #AFTSLusaka2023 as VIP delegates.

The 11th edition of the Africa Fintech Summit is expected to be held in Nairobi, Kenya in 2024.