Fintech MFS Africa acquires digital payments provider Beyonic

Johannesburg-based fintech firm MFS Africa announced today that it has acquired Beyonic, a digital payments management provider of business services for SMEs, fintechs, and social impact entities across Africa.

MFS Africa – which claims to be Africa’s largest digital payments hub – connects more than 200 million mobile wallets on the continent through one API. The company was founded in 2009 by CEO Dare Okoudjou (pictured above).

Beyonic focusses on domestic payments and collections coupled with secure front-end business functionality.

MFS Africa said in a statement today that the deal, which is subject to regulatory approval by the Fair Competition Commission in Tanzania, will provide the growing micro, small, and medium enterprise segment across Africa with the ability to manage digital transactions with individuals and businesses around the world.

Beyonic’s Luke Kyohere called MFS Africa’s acquisition of the firm a new dawn for SMEs in Africa

“Africa has a strong base of connected young entrepreneurs and business people who are bringing fresh ideas to the table, in order to create prosperity for themselves and for their communities on the continent,” said Okoudjou.

“With the MFS Africa Hub, we have been creating new digital pathways between mobile money users in Africa and the global economy.

“With the acquisition of Beyonic, we can now put this digital payment network at the service of those entrepreneurs whether they are SMEs, fintechs, or social impact organisations. By combining MFS Africa’s and Beyonic’s assets and capabilities, we can unleash the wealth of opportunity that business within Africa and with Africa presents to the wider world,” he said.

Extended access and functionality will become available to customers of both organisations in the second half of 2020.

It means that a Uganda-based organisation that uses Beyonic to manage digital payments to and from Ugandan mobile wallets and bank accounts will be able to reach additional markets directly and seamlessly using the same interface, leveraging the pan-African and global connections of the MFS Africa Hub.

Luke Kyohere, founder, executive chairman, and CTO of Beyonic, called the deal “a new dawn for SMEs in Africa”.

He was excited about the possibilities the partnership would bring, particularly given MFS Africa’s recent partnership with Visa, which enables the fintech to issue Visa payment credentials across their pan-African network.

The deal follows the announcement by MFS Africa in January that it had landed $1.2-million as a follow-on investment, from Nairobi-based FSD Africa Investments (see this story).

In 2018, FSD Africa Investments invested $2.2-million in MFS Africa’s Series-B capital raise which aimed to support the expansion of the company’s services and its network.

Read more: Fintech MFS Africa lands $1.2m follow-on investment
Read more: MFS Africa secures follow-on funding, bringing Series-B round to $14m
Read more: How MFS Africa made history for African fintechs with $4.5m Chinese-led deal

Featured image: MFS Africa founder and CEO Dare Okoudjou (Supplied)