Africa's burgeoning financial technology sector is increasingly supported by a robust ecosystem of accelerators and incubators, each offering unique resources to foster the growth of fintech entrepreneurs across the continent. These programs provide vital funding, mentorship, strategic partnerships, and tailored support to propel innovative startups from ideation to scale.

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, particularly Egypt and Jordan, several key players are active. The **AB Accelerator**, located in Amman, Jordan, is a fintech-focused corporate accelerator by Arab Bank. It allows startups to test proof-of-concepts with the potential for pilot agreements and integration with Arab Bank's systems via its open banking developer portal. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with selected startups undergoing a 3-6 month development phase.

Egypt hosts a significant number of these programs. The **1864 Accelerator**, a collaboration between Flat6Labs and Barclays Bank Egypt, offers a three-month program providing mentorship, office space, training, and one-on-one subject matter sessions. It focuses on developing a minimum viable product (MVP), customer acquisition, and culminates in a demo day for pitching to investors. The **AUC Venture Lab Fintech Accelerator** in Cairo is a 16-week university-based program powered by the Commercial International Bank and IFC. It targets scalable fintech businesses with an MVP or working prototype, offering specialized business, finance, and technology support, alongside exposure to evolving government regulations.

Also in Egypt, **EFG EV Fintech**, a joint initiative by EFG Hermes and Egypt Ventures in partnership with Falak Startups, accepts up to 10 startups annually. It offers funding of up to EGP 1 million for seed/early-stage startups and up to EGP 5 million for late-stage ventures through a venture capital arm. The accelerator provides EGP 300,000+ in support functions, including training, mentorship, four months of office space, and business, marketing, legal, tax, and accounting support. **Startupbootcamp Fintech Cairo** is another prominent six-month accelerator for early-stage fintech startups, focusing on financial inclusion. Based in Cairo, it offers hands-on mentorship from over 100 industry experts, office space, and access to a global network of investors and corporate partners like Visa, IFC, and GIZ. Its key focus areas include payments, investments, insurance, capital markets, SME lending, identity authentication, and blockchain.

Moving to West Africa, Nigeria is home to the **GHL Fintech Accelerator**, a flagship program by African fintech investment fund GreenHouse Capital. This six-week accelerator targets early-stage fintech startups with solutions in financial services, insurance, and remittances, offering up to US$10,000 in funding, specialized seminars, and access to GreenHouse Capital’s investor and corporate network. The **Google for Startups Accelerator Africa**, with its hub in Nigeria but operating virtually across 16 African countries, is a three-month equity-free program for seed to Series A startups leveraging machine learning and AI. It provides mentorship from Google teams, product credits, early access to new tools, and technical project partnerships.

South Africa features a diverse array of accelerators. **ASIP Startupbootcamp**, a vertical under Startupbootcamp AfriTech (SBC AfriTech), supports mobile tech-focused startups, including fintech. This remote three-month program offers over EUR 500,000 in benefits, EUR 15,000 in funding from SBC, and focuses on alternative finance, regtech, KYC, cross-border payments, and financial inclusion, with opportunities to pilot proofs of concept with corporate partners. **I’M IN Accelerator** runs two seed acceleration programs: a 10-month main accelerator and a 3-month virtual pre-accelerator, both aimed at black women-owned technology startups. The main program provides ZAR 1.5 million in pre-seed capital, while the pre-accelerator offers ZAR 100,000 for 10% equity, alongside comprehensive business, technology, and market support. The **Akro Accelerator** also in South Africa, is a 20-week program designed to make companies investment-ready and funded within five months. It supports businesses founded by South African passport holders that are at least 51% black-owned, or founded/operating/born in a township, offering business-building support, mentorship, and ZAR 100,000 in digital infrastructure services. **Grindstone XL**, a nine-month acceleration program by female-led post-seed fund Grindstone Ventures in Cape Town and Johannesburg, aims to make scale-up entrepreneurs fundable. It covers business fundamentals like value proposition, customer acquisition, IP, and financial management, accepting up to twenty startups annually. The **AlphaCode Incubate** in Johannesburg targets early-stage startups in financial services. This program provides funding, mentorship, advisory, and co-working space, with a chance to raise early-stage investment. It is split into a 12-week Jump-Start Programme focusing on problem-solution fit, and a 6-month Step-Up Programme focusing on product-market fit.

East Africa also contributes significantly to the fintech ecosystem. **Innovate Ventures Accelerator** in Somaliland and Somalia runs a 12-week program that helps startups build and test business models, offering mentorship in product development, technical architecture, and operations, concluding with a demo day. In Nairobi, Kenya, the **Pangea Scale Up Programme** is aimed at post-acceleration, seed to Series A startups, helping them raise funds from US$50,000 to US$3 million. It focuses on impact-driven and tech-focused startups, offering soft funding application assistance, B2B sales support, and mentorship, taking a 5% commission on closed investments.

Finally, **MEST Africa**, with hubs across Ghana and a pan-African reach, runs three programs: a Seed program providing 18-24 months of incubation and access to an internal seed fund (US$50,000-US$250,000), a MEST Express program with 20 weeks of workshops and mentorship leading to equity-free grants, and MEST Scale, a venture acceleration program for SMEs in Ghana to support operations and address technology gaps.

This comprehensive network of accelerators and incubators underscores a vibrant and diverse support system dedicated to nurturing fintech innovation and entrepreneurship across the African continent, from early-stage development to scaling and securing investment.