Nigeria’s Moniepoint Gets Green Light To Buy Kenyan Fintech

Kenya’s competition regulatory body has granted Moniepoint, a Nigerian fintech heavyweight specialising in business payment and banking solutions, the regulatory clearance to finalise its acquisition of Kopo Kopo, a Kenyan-based enterprise that provides payment services and credit facilities to businesses.

This development signals a significant step forward for Moniepoint, formerly known as TeamApt, as it strategically expands its footprint into the Kenyan market while executing its broader continental growth strategy. Moniepoint, acclaimed for its business payment and banking platforms in Nigeria, aims to strategically target markets characterised by thriving banking and payments infrastructures.

Kopo Kopo, established in 2010 by founders Ben Lyon and Dylan Higgins, has raised more than USD 5 M from notable investors to carve a niche for itself in Kenya’s mobile money-led digital payments landscape. The company facilitates mobile money payments for small-scale merchants, allowing them to process transactions from their customer base.

The Competition Authority of Kenya (CA) has granted approval, noting that “the proposed transaction involves the acquisition of 100 percent shares of Kopo Kopo Inc by Moniepoint Inc,” as communicated in a document seen by WT,

The CA emphasized that the transaction has been meticulously evaluated to ensure that it won’t adversely affect competition in the digital credit market. Moreover, the regulatory body is confident that the acquisition won’t give rise to any detrimental public interest concerns.

After earlier hints of its interest in acquiring strategic assets at home and elsewhere, Moniepoint was reported to be in advanced discussions over acquisitions in its domestic market and in Kenya, an interview that Moniepoint’s CEO Tosin Eniolorunda gave to The Africa Report revealed. Eniolorunda had stated that the plan was to conclude at least one transaction in the fourth quarter of this year. It was also reported that the company is also in the earlier stages of talks with other candidates for purchase, and is interested in making an acquisition in Tanzania.

Prior to that, WT learned from well-placed sources that Moniepoint was considering triggering the acquisition of the Rwanda-born neobank Payday in the coming months having led its seed round. While this transaction–which sources revealed was priced under USD 40 M–appears to have stalled amid reports of bumpy times at Payday, Moniepoint is evidently moving ahead with other targets.

By taking ownership of Kopo Kopo, Moniepoint is strategically eyeing the mature mobile money ecosystem in Kenya, where Safaricom’s M-Pesa service has a dominant presence.

On its part, Moniepoint has evolved since launching in 2015 to become one of the more notable digital banking solutions for small and medium businesses.

The fintech claims to process the majority of the POS transactions in Nigeria currently, boasting an annualised processed value of more than USD 170 B and a customer base of over 600,000 businesses which enabled it to more than double its annual revenues in 2022 across its suite of payment, banking, credit and business management products. In addition to geographical expansion, Moniepoint also extended its product suite recently with the unveiling of a personal banking offering that portrays its resolve to consolidate its position.

Featured Image Credits: Moniepoint Blog