Ivorian fintech Djamo is targeting a $40 million Series C funding round to support its financial inclusion operations and accelerate expansion across West Africa following its entry into Senegal.
Co-founders Hassan Bourgi and Regis Bamba launched Djamo in 2020, and the fintech now has two million users. The company offers bank-backed credit cards, mobile loans and remittance services to and from Côte d’Ivoire.
Djamo is part of a growing group of African fintech companies seeking to expand access to digital banking services through mobile platforms.
The company operates in a market where mobile money adoption is high, but access to formal financial products such as credit and savings remains a challenge for many consumers.
Bourgi and Bamba told ITWeb Africa in an interview in Abidjan that Djamo is preparing a $40 million Series C funding round.
To date, the fintech has raised $31 million in equity funding and an additional $5 million in debt financing. Y Combinator, Partech, Janngo Capital and other investors participated in its earlier funding rounds.
“We are now focusing on entrenching profitability in our home market and accelerating growth into other markets in Francophone West Africa. To achieve that, we are targeting to raise $40 million for our Series C round,” says Bourgi.
Bourgi says Djamo aims to provide low-cost, digital financial services and affordable transactions to underserved customers.
He says traditional mobile money services in Côte d’Ivoire have not always provided access to products such as credit and savings, creating an opportunity for fintech providers such as Djamo.
The fintech is also targeting Generation Z users seeking international payment solutions, including cards for online transactions.
Through partnerships with banks such as Ecobank, Djamo offers cards that support international payments.
Djamo is also targeting the Ivorian diaspora market.
“The diaspora is important for us because they take up accounts with Djamo because we also offer a current account that is easy and seamless to open, and the diaspora also remits money back home through our fintech platform,” says Bourgi.
Bamba says banks do not view Djamo as a threat and have been open to collaborating with the fintech.
Djamo is pursuing a partnership with a local bank to enable cross-border payments for small and medium-sized enterprise account holders.
Currently, Djamo supports cross-border payments for individual accounts.
While Djamo is engaging with the Ivorian central bank on digital currencies, Bamba says the fintech does not plan to introduce bitcoin payments, although there may be opportunities to use stablecoins for cross-border remittances and payments.
“We are not going to be doing cryptocurrencies like bitcoin, but there are talks going on with the central bank about a sandbox where we can use stablecoins for cross-border payments,” he says.
Côte d’Ivoire, a major market in Francophone West Africa, has seen growth in financial inclusion in recent years.
According to the World Bank, the country’s financial inclusion rate increased from 41% in 2017 to 58% in 2024, although access to credit and savings remains limited.
In Senegal, Djamo will face competition from mobile money providers and larger fintech companies such as Wave.
However, the co-founders believe Djamo can compete by focusing on family payments, remittances, cross-border payments and digital loans, supported by lower-cost financial services.
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