Fintech company Flutterwave announced its acquisition of the Nigerian open banking startup, Mono, in a deal valued between $25 million and $40 million.
Announced in a press release, the latest move will use Mono’s API technology to expand open banking across Africa, creating a “connected, interoperable financial system for Africa.” Mono is expected to continue operating on its own, serving approximately 8 million people, or 12% of Nigeria’s population.
With the latest acquisition, Flutterwave will maintain a more “strategic alignment” as both companies work in tandem to provide alternative payment methods across the continent. With Mono’s API, the company will increase its ability to provide account-to-account payments, improve verification and lower fraud rates. The partnership is also set to eventually yield open banking-enabled stabecoin usages.
“We built Mono to unlock Africa’s Open Banking potential, and since our first partnership with Flutterwave in 2021 and working together over the years, we’ve seen the power of a coordinated effort towards this goal. Mono’s capabilities across financial data access, direct bank payments, and identity verification, combined with Flutterwave’s unmatched scale and global reach, create something more defensible and comprehensive,” said the founder and CEO of Mono, Abdulhamid Hassan, per a press release. “This acquisition allows us to build the infrastructure layer that powers the next generation of African fintech at the speed and scale the continent deserves.”
Launched in 2016 by founders Olugbenga Agboola and Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Flutterwave is a payment company that enables businesses and individuals in Africa to send payments across borders.
The concept for the platform initially stemmed in 2010, but, according to a Forbes profile, Agboola spent six more years working at Google and multiple African banks before launching his product. Since then, Flutterwave has processed $23 billion for people from 35 different African countries. Companies such as Twitter, Uber and Microsoft have also been associated with Flutterwave.
The company is part of a growing fintech hub in Africa. In general, per McKinsey, Africa’s financial services have maintained an annual revenue growth rate of 8% from 2018 to 2023. It is projected to increase to almost 10% by 2028. With growth, analysts predict the fintech sector could generate up to $47 billion in revenue by 2028.
Through its latest partnership with Mono, Flutterwave has cemented its spot as the biggest African fintech company.
“This acquisition reflects how we think about the future of financial infrastructure in Africa. Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos. Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space,” said Agboola. “This acquisition allows us to expand what’s possible for businesses operating across African markets, while staying grounded in security, compliance, and local relevance.”
