Moniepoint gains foothold in Kenya with 78% stake in Sumac

Moniepoint Inc. has secured regulatory approval to acquire a 78% controlling stake in Nairobi-based Sumac Microfinance Bank, marking the Nigerian fintech unicorn’s first official entry into Kenya’s financial services sector.

Kenya’s Competition Authority (CAK) granted the acquisition a green light without conditions, concluding that the deal poses no threat to market competition or public interest. Sumac holds a modest 4.3% share of Kenya’s microfinance banking sector and, with Moniepoint not previously operating in the country, the acquisition is seen as a low-risk entry.

“The transaction will not result in negative public interest issues. Specifically, there will be no employment loss and all current employees will be retained under current terms,” CAK stated in its approval notice.

This acquisition comes after Moniepoint’s previous attempt to buy Kenyan payments firm Kopo Kopo fell through earlier this year, despite having received regulatory clearance. While the reasons for that deal’s collapse remain unclear, the move to acquire Sumac marks a recalibrated entry strategy—one that aligns more directly with Moniepoint’s core offering of digital banking services for small businesses.

Sumac, founded in 2002 and converted into a deposit-taking institution in 2012, offers lending, deposit-taking, leasing, forex trading, insurance agency, and money transfer services. As of December 2023, the bank reported KES 3 billion (~$23 million) in assets, 15,923 deposit accounts, and 2,960 active loan accounts.

Moniepoint joins a growing list of Nigerian financial firms targeting East Africa for expansion. Access Bank, a subsidiary of Access Holdings, recently completed its acquisition of the National Bank of Kenya. Flutterwave also operates in the country, offering international payments and M-PESA integrations.

The fintech, which reached unicorn status after raising $110 million in a Series C round, reportedly processes over $17 billion in transactions monthly. Earlier this year, the company also launched a remittance service, MonieWorld, targeting the UK-Nigeria corridor.

The deal underscores a broader trend across African fintech and banking—using acquisitions to accelerate market entry. In February, Kenya’s KCB Group purchased local fintech Riverbank Solutions for KES 2 billion. For Moniepoint, acquiring Sumac offers a regulated entry point into Kenya’s financial ecosystem, avoiding the slower path of licensing from scratch.