Former Network International Executives Secure $6.75M for African Fintech Enza

A group of ex-Network International executives has launched Enza, a fintech startup aiming to transform banking infrastructure across Africa. The company, founded in 2022 by Hany Fekry and Hamish Houston, recently raised $6.75 million in seed funding to drive its expansion.

A New Approach to African Payments

Enza is building a payments ecosystem that enables banks and fintechs to offer seamless transactions, from card payments to mobile wallets and real-time transfers. Unlike traditional payment processors that focus on merchant acquiring, Enza bridges both the issuing and acceptance sides, catering to banks, fintechs, SMEs, and merchants alike.

The startup is initially targeting Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa—three of Africa’s largest financial markets. CEO Hany Fekry explained that Enza’s mission is to provide better financial infrastructure for the continent, saying:

“We founded Enza to solve real infrastructure problems across Africa.”

Enza integrates with local and global payment networks, including Verve, AfriGo, Visa, and Mastercard. It also connects with real-time payment systems like Nigeria’s NIBSS, South Africa’s PayShap, and Egypt’s InstaPay.

Gaining Ground in the Market

Since its launch in January 2023, Enza has secured live partnerships with banks across six African countries, including Ghana, Uganda, and Rwanda. The company already processes over 10 million contracted transactions monthly, with volume growth of 35% to 40% month-over-month.

Rather than competing directly with fintech giants like Flutterwave and Moniepoint, Enza is positioning itself as a partner to banks. By providing greater transparency and control over payment ecosystems, the startup aims to help traditional financial institutions regain market share from fintech disruptors.

“Banks have realized they gave up too much ground to fintechs,” said co-founder Hamish Houston. “We want to give them the tech to compete and win it back.”

Enza bootstrapped its early operations before attracting external funding. Its $6.75 million seed round was led by Algebra Ventures and Quona Capital, both of which have a history of backing high-growth African fintech startups.