Moniepoint Inc. has secured regulatory approval from the Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) to acquire a 78 percent stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank, a major step in the company’s expansion into East Africa.
The acquisition is set to provide Moniepoint with direct access to Kenya’s $67.3 billion mobile payments market.
The approval comes five months after Moniepoint’s earlier acquisition attempt of KopoKopo, a local fintech company, collapsed without explanation.
The CAK had approved that deal in August 2024, but it was later abandoned by both parties.
According to the CAK, the Sumac acquisition raises no public interest concerns.
“Specifically, there will be no employment loss, and all the current employees will be retained under current terms,” the regulator said in a statement released Monday.
Strategic Entry Into Kenya’s Financial Services Market
Sumac Microfinance Bank was founded in 2002 as an investment group and transitioned into a licensed microfinance bank in 2012.
It serves small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with loan, deposit, foreign exchange and transfer services.
The bank has $8.1 million (KES 1.05 billion) in assets and 43,800 active loan accounts, making it a medium-sized operator with an estimated 2.8 percent share of Kenya’s microfinance sector.
The proposed acquisition would allow Moniepoint to build a physical and regulatory foundation in Kenya—its first base in the country—leveraging Sumac’s existing infrastructure to scale financial services and digital lending capabilities.
Moniepoint’s Regional Growth Strategy
Moniepoint, founded in 2015 by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike, is registered in the United States but operates primarily out of Nigeria.
The company has grown into one of the leading digital financial services providers in West Africa, serving over 1.5 million businesses and millions of individual customers.
With its sights set on pan-African expansion, the acquisition of Sumac is a critical move to establish presence in East Africa.
The firm plans to leverage its digital technology and financial products to drive inclusion in underserved markets and build scalable fintech solutions across regions.
Regulatory Landscape and Next Steps
The transaction is still pending approval from the Central Bank of Kenya, which regulates microfinance institutions. If approved, Moniepoint will take operational control of Sumac while retaining its existing staff and maintaining service continuity.
Analysts view the acquisition as a positive development for Kenya’s fintech sector, with Moniepoint expected to inject capital, innovation and operational scale into Sumac’s business model.
The move also signals rising interest among Nigerian fintech firms in expanding their footprint across Africa, where mobile financial services continue to experience rapid growth driven by rising smartphone penetration, digital transactions, and underserved populations.
Outlook
Once concluded, the Sumac acquisition will position Moniepoint to compete directly in East Africa’s fintech and microfinance segments, diversify its regional portfolio and drive new customer acquisition outside of West Africa.
The development underscores Moniepoint’s long-term strategy to operate as a pan-African financial services platform with presence across key markets on the continent.
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