Rinchi
TechInAfrica – 2019 has not ended yet but there were already plenty of significant events in the startup ecosystem, particularly in Africa. We have seen a number of African startups raised funding, ranging from FinTech, HealthTech, AgriTech, and EduTech, among others.
Besides the fundraising, we have also seen some acquisitions in many sectors, such as e-commerce, transportation, FinTech, HealthTech, renewable energy, and so on. So, in this article today, we will see the top 10 acquisitions occurred in 2019:
- Nigeria’s Jiji Buys OLX
In Nigeria, Jiji is ranked the highest in terms of e-commerce. It acquired OLX with an agreement in which the OLX customer base will be integrated into Jiji’s platform. It works for any OLX branches in Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania.
- Ghana’s mPharma acquires Kenya’s Haltons
Haltons is Kenya’s second-largest pharmacy chain with 20 stores across the country. The HealthTech startup is now acquired by Ghana’s mPharma, allowing the startup to venture into the East African market.
mPharma was founded in 2013. It provides drug inventory management as well as financing solutions for pharmacies and their suppliers.
- BRCK Buys Surf Kenya
The Nairobi-based self-powered mobile Wi-Fi devices manufacturer, BRCK, acquires Surf Kenya, another internet service provider in the country. This acquisition sees BRCK as the largest public Wi-Fi network in the Sub-Saharan Africa region with 2,700 public hotspots across Kenya and en estimated 500,000 users a month.
- OneFi Acquires Amplify
The Nigerian Fintech company, OneFi, acquires a payment solutions provider Amplify with an undisclosed amount. The deal allows OneFi to use Amplify’s trademark, team, and client networks. Additionally, it also added Amplify’s product offerings—AmplifyPay and mTransfer—to its portfolio.
- Morocco’s Mubawab Acquires Jumia House’s North African Portals
The leading Moroccan real estate portal, Mubawab, acquires Jumia House’s portals in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia. The deal has made Mubawab a leading real estate portal in the North Africa region.
- MatchGroup Acquires Egypt’s Harmonica
The Dallas-headquartered giant in online dating, Match Group has acquired an Egpytian online dating platform, Harmonica. Match Group owns platforms like OkCupid, Tinder, and PlentyOfFish, among others.
- RiseUp Acquires StarterHub
Just recently, Egypt’s RiseUp has acquired an online startup community, StarterHub. The deal is part of RiseUp’s ambition to be a one-stop-shop for resources for startups and entrepreneurs in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. This acquisition sees StarterHub rebranded as RiseUp Connect.
- RiseUp Acquires Menabytes
Two months prior to the StarterHub acquisition, RiseUp bought the MENA-focused tech publication website, Menabytes with an undisclosed amount. The acquisition allows RiseUp to integrate its digital content arm and Menabybtes trackMena, a data platform that tracks startups, investments, and related events in the ecosystem.
- DPO Group Acquires PayFast
Nairobi-based leading African payment service provider, DPO Group, has acquired a South African payments processing service PayFast. This deal allows the company to provide services to more than 100,000 merchants across 18 African countries. The deal also sees PayFast management as DPO Group’s key shareholders.
- CcHub Buys iHub
The Nigerian multi-faceted innovation hub, Co-creation Hub (CcHub) has acquired the East African tech innovation center, iHub. The acquisition was sealed last month with an undisclosed amount. The acquisition allows iHub to be led by CcHub’s CEO Bosun Tijani while Nekesa Were is still the Managing Director of iHub.
Source: weetracker.com
