Flutterwave, Africa’s largest fintech company, has acquired Nigerian open banking startup Mono in a deal valued between $25 million and $40 million, marking one of the most significant fintech acquisitions in Nigeria in recent years.
The transaction, which was completed as an all-stock deal, brings Mono under Flutterwave’s corporate umbrella while allowing the startup to continue operating independently.
According to sources familiar with the agreement, Mono’s leadership team will remain in place, and its day-to-day operations will not be affected by the acquisition.
Industry insiders say early investors in Mono are expected to recover their capital, with some reportedly recording returns of up to 20 times their initial investment.
Flutterwave said the acquisition is aimed at strengthening its infrastructure across payments, open banking, identity verification, and financial data services, as African fintech companies increasingly shift toward bank-based and authenticated payment systems.
“Payments, data and trust must work together,” Flutterwave Chief Executive Officer Olugbenga ‘GB’ Agboola said in a statement.
He noted that Mono’s open banking infrastructure would enable Flutterwave to expand its services across the continent while maintaining high standards of security and regulatory compliance.
Mono’s Chief Executive Officer, Abdulhamid Hassan, described the acquisition as a natural progression of the companies’ existing partnership.
He said the deal combines Mono’s expertise in financial data, identity and open banking with Flutterwave’s scale and reach across multiple African markets.
Founded in 2020, Mono provides APIs that allow businesses to access bank account information, verify identities, and enable account-to-account payments. The company has processed over ₦150 billion in transactions, serves more than seven million users, and operates in Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana.
Analysts say the integration of Mono’s open banking capabilities is expected to improve merchant onboarding, reduce fraud, and simplify compliance for businesses using Flutterwave’s platform. Developers are also likely to benefit from a more unified payments and data infrastructure, reducing operational complexity.
The acquisition further strengthens Flutterwave’s compliance framework, with the company highlighting its alignment with global security standards such as PCI-DSS and ISO 27001, as regulators across Africa tighten oversight of financial technology companies.
The deal underscores Nigeria’s continued role as a hub for fintech innovation in Africa, even as funding conditions become more cautious. It also reflects growing investor interest in fintech infrastructure companies, as the market moves beyond consumer-facing products toward foundational systems that support digital finance.
Flutterwave did not disclose the final valuation of the transaction but said the acquisition positions the company to better support businesses as Africa’s digital payments ecosystem evolves.
