Moniepoint APPROVED BY COMPETITION AUTHORITY OF KENYA TO ACQUIRE FINTECH Kopo Kopo
The Competition regulatory body in Kenya has reportedly cleared Moniepoint Inc. for the acquisition of Kopo Kopo as it seeks to add to its portfolio. However, following Moniepoint’s approval to acquire Kopo Kopo, a Kenyan-based company offering payment services and credit to businesses, this also means Moniepoint expansion services and growth plans across the continent.
Based on this development, Moniepoint (formerly TeamApt) will expand its services to Kenya having been given the green light by the Competition Authority of Kenya (CA), Moniepoint Inc, which operates one of the largest business payments and banking platforms in Africa’s largest and most populous country – Nigeria, is also said to be keen on expanding to new markets that its banking and payments infrastructure is mature.
A source familiar with the company press release made clear Moniepoint declined to offer details of the deal, however, the group CEO ‘Tosin Eniolorunda’ said: “We have a publicly stated interest in Kenya as part of our mission to provide financial happiness for people across Africa and are delighted to have reached the milestone of securing regulatory approval for our plans”.
In addition to the aforementioned offering of credit to businesses by Kopo Kopo, it also enables small merchants to accept mobile money payments from their customers. It should be borne in mind that Moniepoint appears to be eyeing Kenya’s MSME digital lending space coupled with its mature mobile money market which is known to be dominated by Safaricom’s M-Pesa service.
Moniepoint approval by Kenyan CA meant more for the country’s financial space precisely in the area of cross-border payments, noting that in Nigeria, Moniepoint operates a payment gateway, while providing capital and expansion loans, in addition to expense management (business payments cards), accounting and bookkeeping tools, and insurance to businesses.
According to CA in a statement, “The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved the proposed acquisition of 100% shares in Kopo Kopo Inc. by Moniepoint Inc. unconditionally…This approval has been granted based on the two key considerations during the merger analysis that; first, the transaction is unlikely to negatively impact competition in the market for digital credit; and second, the transaction will not elicit negative public interest concerns”.
Founded in 2010 by ‘Ben Lyon’ and ‘Dylan Higgins’, Kopo Kopo has so far raised $5.4 million backed by Accion Venture Lab, First Light Ventures, Havelin Venture Partners, and Khosla Impact.
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