Kenyan fintech Zanifu has secured investment from Yango Ventures, the $20 million venture capital arm of global tech firm Yango, to strengthen its lending operations for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Founded in 2018, Zanifu provides working-capital loans of up to $2,000 to small retailers who are often excluded from traditional banking services. The company says repayments are structured around business revenues, making the loans more flexible for entrepreneurs. To date, Zanifu has disbursed over $60 million to more than 15,000 small businesses and recently reported two consecutive months of profitability.
While the exact value of Yango’s investment was not disclosed, the fintech will benefit from both fresh capital and strategic support aimed at accelerating its expansion across Africa.
The deal highlights the growing role of fintechs in bridging Africa’s SME financing gap, estimated by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) at $5.2 trillion annually for developing countries.
Yango Ventures, which focuses on e-commerce, fintech, and B2B SaaS startups across Africa, said the investment reflects its commitment to supporting high-growth companies tackling critical economic challenges on the continent.
