Zeepay Ghana acquires Zambia mobile money operator Mangwee
Zeepay, the leading African challenger fintech with operations in over 10 African countries, acquired a 51 percent stake in Mangwee Mobile Money Zambia. The stake was acquired through a new issuance of shares.
Mangwee started operations in 2018, and was initially set up to operate as an alternative wallet targeting university students in Zambia with the aim of driving the cost of mobile money services downward.
Zeepay is the leading African challenger fintech with active operations in over 10 African countries. The company specializes in paying remittances into mobile money wallets across Africa and is regulated by both the Bank of Ghana as an Electronic Money Issuer and by the UK Financial Conduct Authority as a Money Transfer Operator.
The transaction is the first of its kind; that two Indigenous African fintechs involved in mobile money operations have come together to grow representing a wind of change ongoing on the African continent. Zeepay’s financial advisor Verdant Capital, acted as Zeepay’s M&A advisor on the acquisition. Verdant Capital expects further cross-border consolidation in the sector in the coming months and years.
The Managing Director of Zeepay, Andrew Takyi-Appiah, in an interview mentioned that “In 2020 we processed 2.4 million transactions valued at USD 400 million across 10 markets. The acquisition of Mangwee is strategic and opens up the Southern African corridor for Zeepay. This will give Zeepay access to Mozambique, Malawi, Angola and Namibia amongst others in our efforts to capture Africa’s USD 70 billion remittance market and opportunity to deploy our award-winning products.”
Paa Kwasi Yankey, Chairman of Zeepay, mentioned “The move to invest in Mangwee is part of our global strategy to expand our footprint across Africa. In an effort to better serve our global clients and reduce the cost of remittance into Africa.”
“Acquisition of Mangwee by Zeepay marks the opening of Southern Africa to the world of conveniently affordable IMT services,” said Aston Njovu, co-founder of Mangwee.
Bwalya Kampamba and Aston Njovu, Founders of Mangwee mentioned “the partnership with Zeepay is good for Africa and Zambia. Through this we will be able to leverage their award-winning mobile money products such as Remit Insurance, Payments, and Visa-direct to deepen financial inclusion and open up the markets.”