MFS Africa raises $100 million fund for massive expansion across Africa
By Fabian Ekeruche
MFS Africa, Africa’s largest digital payments network, on Wednesday said it had raised US$100 million through an equity and debt financing round.
MFS, in a statement, said that the fundraising marks another milestone in its Africa’s expansion, following a series of acquisitions and investments in other African fintechs, including the recently announced acquisition of Baxi in Nigeria.
The new investor, AfricInvest FIVE, is one of the most experienced private equity investors in the continent and co-led the round with existing investors Goodwell Investments and LUN Partners Group (“LUN Partners”).
Other investors included CommerzVentures, Allan Gray Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst and Endeavor Harvest also joined the round as new investors, while ShoreCap III returned as an existing investor with other funds.
Providers of debt financing included Lendable and Norsad.
MFS Africa’s vision is to make borders matter less, which it enables through interoperability across payments schemes, borders and currencies.
Over the last year MFS Africa has accelerated its expansion efforts across Africa.
The company has opened new offices in Abidjan, Kampala, Kinshasa, Nairobi and Lagos, in addition to establishing London as its new headquarters.
MFS Africa recently signed an agreement to acquire Baxi, a leading super-agent in Nigeria, and plans to build Baxi into a key node, allowing regional payments into and from Nigeria.
MFS Africa is continuing to expand its network and will be opening additional regional offices in key African markets, as well as in the USA and China.
The new funding will enable MFS Africa to hire additional talent in Africa and globally to support its exponential growth.
Furthermore, part of the new funding has been earmarked to continue strengthening the company’s Governance, Risks and Compliance (GRC) functions as well as its treasury and liquidity pool. MFS Africa will be continuing to invest in fintechs across the African payment ecosystem,
Dare Okoudjou, Founder and CEO of MFS Africa, said: ”This round of funding marks the beginning of the next phase in our growth. We greatly appreciate the renewed and continued confidence in us by our longstanding investors.
“This new fundraising round further demonstrates our commitment and the scale of our ambitions.
“For our clients across Africa and beyond, this is also a validation of the choice they have made to partner with us in building a network of networks that make instant cross-border payments as simple as making a phone call.
“We look forward to continuing to work with them to expand and deepen that network in the years to come.”
Discussing the investment, Julius Tichelaar, Partner at AfricInvest FIVE said: “MFS Africa provides broad access to a large range of payment services for individuals and companies on the African continent, including remittance and trade-related financial services.
“ This resonates well with AfricInvest FIVE’s financial inclusion strategy.
“Cross-border payments remain an important challenge in many African markets today and MFS Africa is uniquely positioned to confront this.”
“We are excited to join MFS Africa’s world-class management team on its mission and to support its growth journey,” Tichelaar said.
