Affinity Africa, a digital banking platform headquartered in Ghana, dedicated to providing affordable and accessible financial services to underserved and underbanked individuals, has secured $8 million in an oversubscribed round.

The round was led by Grazia Equity and BACKED VC to accelerate its mission of delivering affordable and accessible financial services to underserved and unbanked communities.

Speaking on the funding round, Founder and Group CEO of Affinity Africa, Tarek Mouganie said,

“The strong, sustained growth we have seen since the launch of our mobile app shows how much local customers needed a better banking experience, without absurd fees and endless queues. As a customer-centric, technology-driven, fully fledged financial institution, we offer affordable, easy-to-use products, backed by a unique business, model that attracts a growing base of deposits while offering the cheapest instant loans in the region. This oversubscribed funding round is a testament to the belief in our vision and the opportunity to create real and lasting change, starting in Ghana.”

Also speaking, Andre de Haes, founder and managing partner at Backed said,

“At BACKED we are founder first, and we could not think of a better person to build Africa’s local bank than Tarek. He started his career investing in banks through the, 2008 crisis, becoming an expert in regulation and strategy, and has built a world-class banking software stack for Affinity from the ground up. He has a unique ability to connect with and understand customers, which has materialized into extremely impressive early user numbers”.

Founded by entrepreneur Tarek Mouganie in 2022, Affinity Africa operates a branchless banking model powered by a mobile and web app, an extensive agent network, and a proprietary technology platform. This model enhances efficiency, allowing the company to offer banking services with no monthly fees or transaction charges, positioning it among the most affordable players in the industry.

Affinity Africa offers a comprehensive suite of products which include personal and SME accounts, savings, payments, transfers to banks and mobile money wallets, investments, and loans. The fintech has made a profound impact in the region it operates, empowering a large underserved population with easy-to-use affordable banking services. Also, it has financially included thousands of Africans who had been previously neglected by traditional banks.

The digital banking platform, which caters to individuals and micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), officially launched in Ghana in October 2024. Since then, it has onboarded over 50,000 customers, with 65% having no prior access to formal banking services and more than 60% being women engaged in the informal sector. The fresh funding will support the company’s expansion efforts and its goal of driving financial inclusion across Africa.

Since its launch, Affinity’s growth rates have surpassed expectations. The customer base grew over 3x year-over-year (YoY) with savings growing over 35% month-on-month since the launch of the mobile app in 2024. Using their proprietary scoring engine, Instant loans have also accelerated, growing 30% month-on-month with an NPL of 3%. Affinity Africa prides itself on establishing digital forward and branch-light financial institutions, leveraging Fintech and innovative design-led solutions to improve financial access and affordability.

With this recent funding, the company plans to expand its reach in Ghana ahead of its international expansion to continue driving financial incision across Africa.