Not too long ago, the tech ecosystem in Africa experienced a landmark moment following the acquisition of a Nigerian fintech firm by another company.
In a deal estimated to worth more than $200 million, Stripe, a leading firm in the global payments network acquired Paystack.
In 2016, Paystack, a payment medium, was co-launched by Ezra Olubi and Shola Akinlade. The innovation made receipts of payments easy for individuals and businesses in Africa.
In Nigeria alone, Paystack handles and processes over 50% of the entire web payments done in the country. It also coordinates the payment schemes of over 60,000 organizations including MTN, FedEx, UPS, and many more.
Now, Stripe, which back in 2018, led the $8 million funding round for Paystack has acquired Paystack.
Stripe is an internationally recognized web payment system. The company services big tech firms like Google, Shopify, Amazon and Zoom. And its acquisition of Paystack is a part of its plan to expand into more international territories.
‘’In five years, Paystack has achieved what many companies could not in decades. Their values, tech-first approach, and ambitions align with ours. The acquisition will provide Paystack the resources to create new products, offer improved services, and support more businesses. It will also consolidate the hyper-fragmented African payment ecosystem,’’ says, Matt Henderson, business lead in EMEA at Stripe.
‘’We are excited to see the next big and game-changing product Paystack will come up with and how its growth can skyrocket the tech ecosystem in Africa,’’ Matt added.
Paystack will continue to operate as an independent firm. It will continue its journey of growing its operations in Africa and adding more international payments to its system.
Commenting, Akinlade says, ‘’Paystack catalyzes modern businesses in Africa, and we couldn’t be more excited to partner with Stripe to nurture transformative businesses in Africa.’’