Africa’s fintech industry is undergoing a surge in mergers and acquisitions, as firms scramble to stake their claim in the continent’s fast-growing digital payments and cash transfer market, projected to hit $1.5 trillion by 2030.
Second Eye Africa
Rising competition in digital and cross-border payments is driving a wave of consolidation, as fintech startups, telecoms, and traditional banks lock into strategic partnerships to gain ground.
With the playing field becoming increasingly fragmented and fast-paced, consolidation is proving to be the weapon of choice for firms looking to scale quickly and fend off rivals.
Behind the merger push lies a growing appetite for quicker, low-cost, and more inclusive financial services in Africa, where Mastercard forecasts that digital transaction volumes could top $1.5 trillion by the end of the decade.
PwC’s Global M&A Trends 2023 report indicates that Africa’s tech and fintech sectors experienced a 22 percent increase in deal activity last year, driven by inefficiencies in cross-border payments and a market hungry for scalable solutions.
A separate review by Disrupt Africa shows that 26 African fintech companies were acquired between June 2021 and July 2023 — a 271 percent leap compared to just seven acquisitions recorded in the previous two years.
Meanwhile, analysis by McKinsey suggests that revenues in Africa’s fintech sector could reach $47 billion by 2028, up from an estimated $10 billion in 2023 — a near fivefold jump.
Africa’s digital finance landscape has long been a competitive arena, with mobile money pioneers like M-PESA, nimble fintechs, and legacy financial institutions all competing for dominance.
High-profile acquisitions, such as WorldRemit’s $500 million purchase of Sendwave in 2020, have set the stage by simplifying remittance flows between Africa and its global diaspora.
Remittance inflows to the continent reached $100 billion in 2024, even as intra-African trade continues to be hindered by expensive and inefficient payment channels.
While fintech leaders like Flutterwave, Chipper Cash, and Wave have taken advantage of these gaps, growing competition is prompting even the frontrunners to explore mergers for scale and survival.
As the volume of cross-border transactions and remittances climbs, fintechs are looking to mergers and partnerships to build out infrastructure, gain technical depth, and secure market access.
A McKinsey report from 2024 titled Redefining Success: A New Playbook for African Fintech Leaders, notes that ecosystem collaboration and seamless integration will be critical for the sector’s next phase.
The report adds that many of these deals are investor-driven, designed to combine startups into more robust and commercially viable entities.
In Nigeria, for example, Ventures Platform facilitated the acquisition of Traction Apps — a digital payments and inventory tool — by OmniRetail, a B2B e-commerce player.
Flutterwave has also acquired Disha, a platform for creators, and teamed up with Acquired.com to enhance its payment processing capabilities.
Earlier, in 2021, Flutterwave entered into a key partnership with MTN to connect its payment infrastructure with MTN Mobile Money, enabling direct wallet transfers in Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Uganda, and Zambia.
The move was part of MTN’s strategy to expand its mobile money presence across Africa, and by 2023, the company reported a 40 percent increase in wallet users in the partnered countries — showing how collaboration can drive inclusion.
Elsewhere, South Africa’s MFS Africa acquired US-based Global Technology Partners for $34 million, gaining access to more than 180 million mobile wallets, according to M&A Explorer by White & Case.
Telecom operators are also staking their claim. Airtel Money’s tie-up with Standard Chartered has enabled instant cross-border transfers across 14 African countries — a move McKinsey says blends large-scale infrastructure with local relevance and integrated delivery.
Commercial banks, which had previously lagged behind mobile money providers, are now reclaiming ground through acquisitions and digital upgrades.
Kenya’s Equity Bank expanded into Central Africa by acquiring ProCredit in the DRC in 2022, with plans to integrate its digital platform EazzyNet into local mobile money ecosystems.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Access Bank has been snapping up smaller banks in Mozambique, Angola, and Zambia, citing cross-border payment synergies as part of its strategy.
This mirrors Kenya’s PesaLink initiative, where banks pooled resources to create a bulk transfer platform that could rival mobile money heavyweights. Similar cooperative efforts are emerging across other regions.
The Africa Continental Free Trade Area is further fuelling integration, with the Pan-African Payment and Settlement System aiming to save $5 billion a year in transaction costs.
With AfCFTA opening the door to a $3.5 trillion single market, the race to merge, partner, and expand is gathering speed — and there’s little sign of it slowing down.
Second Eye Africa
