Flutterwave has acquired a stake in Mono, the Nigerian open banking startup, in a move the company says reinforces its long-term commitment to building a more connected and interoperable financial system across Africa. The acquisition positions open banking as a central pillar in Flutterwave’s evolving payments strategy, as African fintechs increasingly prioritise bank-based, authenticated payment methods over traditional card infrastructure.
Under the terms of the deal, Mono will continue to operate independently, with no changes to its leadership, staff or day-to-day operations. Flutterwave described the arrangement as one of strategic alignment rather than operational control, allowing Mono to maintain its pace of innovation while integrating its infrastructure into Flutterwave’s wider payments ecosystem.
A New Push to Map Africa, This Time at Continental Scale
Mono’s API-driven platform enables secure access to financial data, identity verification and account-to-account payments — capabilities that are becoming more critical as African economies move toward more trusted, data-driven financial services.
Flutterwave said the acquisition reflects a broader shift in the continent’s payments landscape, where growth is increasingly driven by direct bank payments, improved verification processes and fraud reduction, rather than card-based rails.
By integrating Mono’s open banking APIs, the company aims to improve merchant onboarding, strengthen compliance, and enable seamless account-to-account transactions. It also sees the partnership as a foundation for expanding into richer alternative payment methods and, over time, open banking–enabled stablecoin use cases.
“This acquisition reflects how we think about the future of financial infrastructure in Africa,” said Olugbenga Agboola, Flutterwave’s founder and chief executive. “Payments, data and trust cannot exist in silos. Open banking provides the connective tissue.”
Abdulhamid Hassan, Mono’s founder and chief executive, said the deal builds on a partnership that began in 2021 and combines Mono’s open banking capabilities with Flutterwave’s scale and global reach.“Together, we can build the infrastructure layer that powers the next generation of African fintech at the speed and scale the continent deserves,” he said. The transaction was advised by The Chrysalis Advisors Africa, which supported both companies on strategic positioning and execution.
