West Africa: Peach Payments to Acquire Senegal's Paydunya in West Africa Push

  • South African fintech company Peach Payments has agreed to acquire Senegal-based PayDunya, marking its entry into Francophone Africa
  • The acquisition extends Peach Payments' footprint to 12 African countries, following earlier expansions into Kenya, Mauritius, and Eswatini
  • PayDunya, founded in 2015, operates across six Francophone West African countries. It offers merchants a single API to send and receive digital payments

South African fintech company Peach Payments has agreed to acquire Senegal-based PayDunya, marking its entry into Francophone Africa. The acquisition extends Peach Payments' footprint to 12 African countries, following earlier expansions into Kenya, Mauritius, and Eswatini.

Founded in 2012 in Cape Town, Peach Payments provides payment solutions that help businesses accept, manage, and disburse funds via web and mobile. The company raised $31 million in 2023 and has since pursued growth through acquisitions.

PayDunya, founded in 2015, operates across six Francophone West African countries. It offers merchants a single API to send and receive digital payments. The acquisition gives Peach Payments access to the West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEMOA) and Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMAC) regions. The transaction is subject to regulatory approvals and is expected to close in the coming months.

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Key Takeaways

The acquisition of PayDunya highlights a growing trend among African fintechs to scale through strategic mergers and acquisitions, particularly to address fragmented payment infrastructures across regions. Francophone Africa, often less saturated than Anglophone markets, presents new growth opportunities. UEMOA and CEMAC regions share a common currency (CFA franc), easing cross-border operations and offering a unified customer base of over 450 million. By acquiring an established player like PayDunya, Peach Payments can bypass regulatory barriers and tap into existing local integrations with telecoms, banks, and mobile wallets. The move also positions the company to serve cross-border e-commerce and global merchants looking for access to Francophone markets. As African digital economies grow, regional consolidation may accelerate, enabling fintechs to offer more comprehensive services and improve interoperability. For Peach Payments, this deal expands its market reach and operational capabilities, reinforcing a broader trend of regional fintechs evolving into continent-wide platforms.

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