Designed to make Africa’s payment system as simple as a phone call, MFS Africa has coined the title of the continent’s largest digital payment gateway.
According to TechCrunch, the fintech has received funding totaling $100 million in a Series C round distributed between $70 million equity and $30 million debt. The round was led by private equity fund AfricInvest FIVE alongside Goodwell Investments and LUN Partners Group. CommerzVentures, Allan Gray Ventures, Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor Harvest, and ShoreCap III also participated in the round.
The recent funding marks a new chapter for founder and CEO Dare Okoudjou, who has never had funds reciprocated from their personal acquisitions and investments by fintech on the continent.
The London-based company was backed by the principle of making the transaction of money simple and easier for Africans. Combining over 320 million mobile money wallets throughout over 35 African countries and 700 corridors, the payment giant facilitates the financial services of bank accounts, prepaid cards, and virtual cards. Its ever growing reach makes it possible to fulfill Okoudjou’s mission to make payments accessible.
“The way we take for granted the fact that we can communicate with anybody around the world via a mobile phone, my dream is that it should be the same with a mobile wallet,” CEO Okoudjou said, according to TechCrunch. “If you sign to any mobile wallet somewhere in the world, starting with Africa, it should be enough to transact with anybody else in the world. That’s the grand mission of the company.”
With the new funding, MFS Africa will be able to amplify its goal to expand across the continent, the U.S. and China. The company will also strengthen its Governance, Risks and Compliance functions and treasury and liquidity pool, TechCrunch reports. Lastly, the company plans to recruit new talent to pursue further investments.
The company will now have further support as it aims to establish more payment networks in both China and Africa with Nigeria serving as the starting point, as it was able to tap into the country’s mobile money agent following its acquisition of banking platform Baxi.
