Flutterwave, Africa’s most valuable fintech company, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-share deal valued at between US$25 million and US$40 million, signalling a fresh wave of consolidation in the continent’s financial technology sector.
The acquisition brings together one of Africa’s largest payments processors with a leading financial data aggregator, as fintech firms seek to expand services and strengthen infrastructure amid a tougher funding environment.
Flutterwave operates across more than 30 countries, providing local and cross-border payment services to businesses. Mono, often described as Africa’s answer to US-based data firm Plaid, offers application programming interfaces (APIs) that allow companies to access bank data and initiate direct payments.
The companies said Mono will continue to operate as a standalone product under the Flutterwave group.
All of Mono’s investors including Tiger Global and General Catalyst are expected to at least recoup their capital, with some early backers recording returns of up to 20 times their initial investment, according to people familiar with the deal.
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Founded in 2019, Mono has raised about US$17.5 million and supports roughly eight million bank account linkages, representing around 12 percent of Nigeria’s banked population. The company says it has delivered more than 100 billion financial data points to lenders and other financial institutions.
Flutterwave said the acquisition would allow it to integrate payments, identity verification and financial data within a single platform, enabling services such as instant onboarding, credit risk assessment and direct bank payments.
“This acquisition reflects how we think about the future of financial infrastructure in Africa,” Flutterwave founder and chief executive Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola said in a statement, adding that payments and data must operate together to build trust.
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Mono chief executive Abdulhamid Hassan said the company was approaching profitability but chose to merge with Flutterwave to accelerate expansion across Africa amid a challenging funding climate.
The deal comes as African fintech firms shift away from standalone growth models toward consolidation, seeking scale and sustainability in markets where credit data remains limited and digital lenders rely heavily on alternative financial information to assess borrowers.
