By Mark Kawalya
Cross-border remittances leader MFS Africa has acquired Beyonic, a provider of digital payments management services for SMEs, non-profits, and FinTechs in the African business ecosystem.
The company, which has the biggest FinTech footprint in Africa, is a hub that links more than 200 million mobile wallets across the continent through a singular API.
Beyonic has been facilitating digital payments in Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Ghana. As per the agreement, MFS will take on Beyonic’s entire team, with the company’s CEO, Luke Kyohere taking up the mantle as part of the MFS Africa leadership team. Additionally, MFS Africa will now offer Beyonic’s enterprise-centered service as a new product under its wider brand.
“Africa has a strong base of connected young entrepreneurs and business people who are bringing fresh ideas to the table, to create prosperity for themselves and for their communities on the continent,“ said Dare Okoudjou, founder and CEO of MFS Africa. “With the MFS Africa hub, we have been creating new digital pathways between mobile money users in Africa and the global economy.”
The nitty-gritty of the acquisition terms remain undisclosed and are under the regulatory approval of the Fair Competition Commission in Tanzania.
This takeover is crucial because it will provide players in the small, micro and medium enterprise sector in Africa with the ability to manage digital cash movements with businesses and stakeholders around the globe. The transition from cash-based systems offers a host of advantages in accountability, security, resilience and transparency, enabling business owners to focus on making their ventures and communities thrive.
Luke Kyohere, founder, Executive Chairman, and CTO of Beyonic, said, “MFS Africa’s mission to make borders matter less in digital payments aligns perfectly with Beyonic’s vision of helping enterprises deliver fast, affordable fintech solutions to the last mile, where they are needed the most.” Together, we will give our customers access to the broadest and deepest digital payment network in Africa.”
Founded in 2009, MFS Africa has developed a ‘network of networks’ that allows interoperability between 200 million mobile money wallets across different platforms in 34 African markets.
The acquisition is a vivid picture of the current start-up across the continent, that has changing macroeconomics ignited by the pandemic. Larger start-ups often expand their product portfolios to consolidate their positions by buying out smaller, complementary players.
