Three African FinTech companies, Flutterwave and Riby from Nigeria as well as GrassRoots Bima from Kenya, have been listed amongst the top 50 emerging FinTech companies globally in KPMG and H2 Ventures' 2017 fourth annual Fintech 100 report.

The report profiles one hundred of the most innovative FinTech companies, identified for their products and services that are positioned to disrupt the marketplace.

This year's 100 features FinTech businesses from 29 countries, with 41 companies from the UK and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), 29 companies from the Americas (North and South America), and 30 companies from Asia (including Australia and New Zealand).

It is divided into two sub-lists namely the 'Top 50' established FinTech firms around the globe (ranked according to innovation, capital raising activity, size and country) and the 'Emerging 50' firms (which are newer companies that are at the forefront of innovative technologies and practices and often pursuing new business models).

The selection criteria used to identify the companies covered aspects like total capital raised, geographic diversity, and business model innovation, among others.

The listed African start-up companies were featured in the Emerging 50 sub-list.

Flutterwave was founded in 2016 and is focused on providing payments technologies and infrastructure. According to its profile operates in more than 36 countries.

Kenyan InsureTech company GrassRoots Bima was also founded in 2016 and according to the report "has quickly become one of Africa's most innovative InsureTech companies"

Based in Nigeria, Riby is a mobile app-based service that offers a range of financial management features including digitisation of collaborative saving, lending and investments.

Africa's growing FinTech landscape

According to market research firm PwC, FinTech in Africa has a growing influence on financial services.

The company's Global FinTech Report 2017, 82% of incumbents expect to increase FinTech partnerships in the next three to five years. 77% expect to adopt blockchain as part of their production system or process by 2020 and 20% expected annual ROI on FinTech-related projects.

"FinTech has evolved from start-ups that want to take on and beat incumbents, to a broader ecosystem of different businesses looking in many cases for partnerships. FinTech start-ups don't just need capital, they need customers. At the same time, incumbents need new approaches to drive change and deliver innovation," notes PwC.

According to Disrupt Africa, more than 300 FinTech start-ups are active across the African continent, disrupting the financial services landscape with innovative solutions that are attracting the attention of banks and investors.

The company's Finnovating for Africa 2017 report notes, "The data shows FinTech startups are spread across the African continent, with the Southern, West and East African regions equally active, while North Africa lags behind. South Africa is the top destination for FinTech startup activity - home to 31.2% of the continent's FinTech startups - while Nigeria and Kenya follow in second and third place respectively."