Visa Invests in Moniepoint to Unlock Africa’s Small Business Potential

Visa is betting that Nigerian FinTech Moniepoint will accelerate growth for small- to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in Africa.

The global payments giant invested in the company to advance financial inclusion, shape the future of digital payments and foster SMB growth across the continent, according to a Thursday (Jan. 23) press release. Specific financial terms were not disclosed.

“Visa’s investment in Moniepoint is the latest example of our long-standing commitment to advancing digital economies in Africa,” Andrew Torre, Visa’s regional president for central and eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, said in the release. “We will enable even the smallest businesses to thrive through innovative payment and software solutions that allow [SMBs] to scale and open new revenue opportunities, while streamlining their operations.”

Moniepoint (formerly known as TeamApt) was founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike to expand access to financial services for SMBs in Nigeria. The company’s platform offers “an integrated suite of services, including digital payments, bank accounts, credit and management tools,” according to the release. The partnership with Visa will expand the company’s footprint beyond Nigeria’s borders.

Eniolorunda said in the release that Moniepoint and Visa aim to help SMBs thrive in Africa’s increasingly digital economy by giving them access to the tools and resources they need.

“Given that about 83% of employment across Africa is in the informal economy, we are very keen to widen access and participation in the formal financial system and drive economic growth across Africa,” he said in the release.

Moniepoint processes more than 1 billion transactions monthly, and its total payments volume is over $22 billion. The company’s revenues have increased by over 150% “in recent years,” the release said.

Other investors in Moniepoint include Development Partners International, Google’s Africa Investment Fund, Verod Capital, Lightrock, QED Investors, Novastar Ventures, British International Investment, FMO (the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank), Global Ventures and Endeavor Catalyst, per the release.

When Moniepoint rebranded in January 2023, the company also announced that it was relocating its headquarters from Lagos to London as it looked to the next phase of its journey.

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