Sylvia Duruson
The Competition Authority of Kenya has approved Moniepoint Inc.’s acquisition of Kopo Kopo, a Kenyan fintech company offering payments and credit services to small businesses.
Moniepoint, which runs a large payments platform in Nigeria, said it is “delighted to have reached the milestone of securing regulatory approval for our plans” in Kenya, according to group CEO Tosin Eniolorunda. He said the company has a “publicly stated interest in Kenya as part of our mission to provide financial happiness for people across Africa.”
The authority said it approved the deal “unconditionally” after determining it is “unlikely to negatively impact competition in the market for digital credit” and raises no “negative public interest concerns.”
Beyond digital credit, Kopo Kopo enables small merchants to accept mobile money payments, tapping into Kenya’s mature market dominated by Safaricom’s M-Pesa. Moniepoint seems to be entering Kenya’s MSME lending space and leveraging its advanced mobile money infrastructure.
In Nigeria, Moniepoint offers a payment gateway along with business loans, expense cards, accounting tools and insurance. It aims to expand these services in Kenya.
Kopo Kopo was founded in 2010 and has raised $5.4 million in funding from investors, including Accion Venture Lab, Javelin Venture Partners, First Light Ventures and Khosla Impact.
Moniepoint declined to offer details on the acquisition deal. But its Kenya launch represents continued African expansion plans following regulatory approval.
