January 05, (THEWILL) — Flutterwave, Africa’s largest fintech company, has expanded its infrastructure by acquiring Nigerian open banking startup Mono in an all-stock transaction valued between $25 million and $40 million.
The move is designed to strengthen Flutterwave’s payments, data, and identity capabilities across the continent as African markets shift toward bank-led financial services.
Under the terms of the deal, which was finalized in December 2025 and made public on January 5, 2026, Mono will continue to operate as an independent product.
The company’s leadership team, led by CEO Abdulhamid Hassan, will remain intact, and day-to-day operations will continue without disruption.
The acquisition provides an exit for Mono’s investors, including Ventures Platform and Tiger Global, allowing them to recoup their capital in a challenging funding environment.
Some early backers reportedly realized returns of up to 20 times their initial investment.
Flutterwave’s Founder and CEO, Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola, stated that the deal aligns with the company’s long-term vision for Africa’s financial ecosystem.
“Payments, data, and trust cannot exist in silos,” Agboola said. “Open banking provides the connective tissue, and Mono has built critical infrastructure in this space.
This acquisition allows us to expand what’s possible for businesses operating across African markets, while staying grounded in security, compliance, and local relevance.”
Mono’s platform provides secure access to bank account data, identity verification, and account-to-account (A2A) payment services.
These capabilities have become essential for digital lenders in Nigeria, where Mono has already powered over eight million bank account linkages.
Abdulhamid Hassan, Mono’s CEO, noted that the deal grew out of a long-standing partnership that began in 2021.
“Mono’s capabilities across financial data access and direct bank payments, combined with Flutterwave’s scale and global reach, create something more defensible and comprehensive,” Hassan said.
The integration is expected to support faster merchant onboarding, reduced fraud, and more seamless bank-based payments across more than 30 African countries.
It also positions Flutterwave to capitalize on Nigeria’s newly operationalized open banking framework, approved by the Central Bank of Nigeria in August 2025.
From a regulatory standpoint, the deal aims to increase standardization and data protection in compliance with global security standards such as PCI-DSS and ISO 27001.
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