{"id":117511,"date":"2026-03-02T08:47:37","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:47:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=117511"},"modified":"2026-03-02T08:47:37","modified_gmt":"2026-03-02T08:47:37","slug":"mergers-and-acquisitions-are-surging-amidst-market-exuberance-on-the-exit-trail","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=117511","title":{"rendered":"Mergers and acquisitions are surging amidst market exuberance on the exit trail"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>7 Minute, 40 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
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On January 5, 2026, we woke up to the new year message that Africa\u2019s largest fintech\u00a0Flutterwave has acquired Nigerian open banking startup\u00a0Mono\u00a0in an all-stock deal valued between $25 million and $40 million. The acquisition brings together two of Africa\u2019s leading fintech infrastructure companies.<\/p>\n

Flutterwave operates one of the continent\u2019s widest payments networks, while Mono, often described as the \u201cPlaid for Africa,\u201d has built APIs that allow businesses to access bank data, initiate payments, and verify customers.<\/p>\n

According to Lumi Mustapha, General Counsel of Pareto Mosca Elite Advisory, the Mono-Flutterwave deal is the opening salvo in Africa\u2019s fintech consolidation wave. He predicts that the next 18 months will see 8-12 acquisitions:\u00a0top 3-5 fintechs absorbing Series A\/B companies valued at $50-200M that can\u2019t raise growth rounds.<\/p>\n

According to him, when Flutterwave paid for Mono in stock, they revealed more than their balance sheet. They revealed where African fintech is headed: not toward the stratospheric valuations of 2021-22, but toward honest reckoning with markets, margins, and mathematics. <\/p>\n

The next 12 months will determine whether Flutterwave manages its down round at $1.5-2 billion, hits profitability, and emerges as Africa\u2019s enduring payments infrastructure.<\/p>\n

Still in Nigeria,\u00a0Paystack\u00a0has officially entered the banking sector through the acquisition of Ladder Microfinance Bank, now rebranded as Paystack Microfinance Bank (MFB).<\/p>\n

The move gives the fintech greater control over the funds it processes and enables it to extend lending and deposit services to businesses, complementing its existing payments ecosystem. Paystack MFB will operate independently, leveraging transactional data from Paystack\u2019s payment network to underwrite loans more efficiently, allowing faster approvals and more precise risk management.<\/p>\n

Following the acquisition and to mark its 10th anniversary, it made a massive structural shift, evolving from a payment processor into\u00a0The Stack Group (TSG)\u2014a multi-brand holding company. The new structure, pending final regulatory approval, includes: Paystack:\u00a0The core merchant payments engine. Paystack MFB:\u00a0A standalone microfinance bank providing credit and banking infrastructure. Zap:\u00a0A consumer-facing payment brand. TSG Labs:\u00a0A venture studio and incubator designed to build products.<\/p>\n

Varun Beverages Ltd (VBL), PepsiCo\u2019s largest bottler outside the United States and majority-owned by the Jaipuria family of India, is expanding its African operations with the acquisition of Twizza Proprietary Limited in South Africa for roungly $125M. The deal will be executed through VBL\u2019s SA subsidiary, Bevco, giving the company control of three Twizza manufacturing plants in Cape Town, Queenstown, and Middelburg.<\/p>\n

In February 2025,\u00a0Motorola acquired RapidDeploy, a South Africa-born emergency response platform, for an undisclosed sum after its investors helped the company expand into the United States, where its software now underpins critical 911 infrastructure. While the acquisition meant RapidDeploy\u2019s investors got returns on their investment, the deal also proved that African private equity firms can build and scale sophisticated software within their portfolio companies and successfully export that capability beyond the continent. Sango Capital, which manages\u00a0over $670 million in assets, helped export RapidDeploy to the United States.<\/p>\n

Nedbank Group, one of South Africa\u2019s largest banks with over 8 million customers, has offered to buy a controlling stake in Kenya\u2019s National Bank of Africa (NCBA) Group in a cash and stock transaction valued at $855.5 million, accelerating its push into East Africa.<\/p>\n

South Africa is moving to ease merger and acquisition rules in a bid to cut red tape and lower business costs in its sluggish economy. The Department of Trade, Industry and Competition has proposed raising the minimum thresholds that trigger mandatory antitrust reporting, meaning fewer deals would require regulatory approval. Under the draft changes, both the lower and higher thresholds for reporting mergers would increase significantly, reducing legal expenses and speeding up transaction timelines. Backed by President Ramaphosa\u2019s Operation Vulindlela reform drive, the proposals reflect a broader push to revive deal-making and restore investor confidence.<\/p>\n

These signal a surge in mergers and acquisitions into and out of Africa. These private market deals are a manifestation of market maturation with integration into global markets. The markets are at a critical juncture of consolidation, which would result in bigger and better businesses, doing away with the less performing ones. The same may be said of the public markets where IPOs and market activities are on the rise in Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Tanzania and Zambia.<\/p>\n

Africa\u2019s 2025 market performance is challenging long-held assumptions. OECD analysis shows that scaling energy and infrastructure investments could materially lift growth and potentially double Africa\u2019s GDP over time. EBRD surveys indicate that households in Sub-Saharan Africa are among the most optimistic globally about the future. These are interesting times for long-term investors looking beyond the traditional market cycles.<\/p>\n

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\"Mergers<\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n

Last week, Kenya kickstarted the year with its biggest IPO, with the government offloading 65% stake in Kenya Pipeline Company (KPC) at a valuation of $835M, ending an 11-year public offering drought. If successful, it could thaw Nairobi\u2019s long-frozen public markets and boost infrastructure funding.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, South Africa\u2019s stock market has\u00a0reached its highest valuation\u00a0since 2019. The FTSE\/JSE Africa All Share Index recently surpassed $500 billion in total market value, outperforming the equity markets of several peer nations. This milestone caps an extraordinary run, with the Johannesburg Stock Exchange posting a 38% gain in 2025\u2014its best annual performance in two decades. The rally, led by precious metals and mining stocks, has been supercharged by a 14% appreciation of the rand against the US dollar, pushing the index up 57% in dollar terms. The momentum continued into 2026, driven by rising gold prices and a strong rand, which is trading at its strongest level in three years.<\/p>\n

The Johannesburg Stock Exchange has listed the Cartesian EasyETFs Balanced Actively Managed Exchange Traded Fund, marking the latest expansion of actively managed investment products on the exchange\u2019s Main Board.<\/p>\n

The Ghana Stock Exchange (GSE) commenced trading for 2026 on a positive note on January 5th, with the benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) advancing 11.3 points to close at 8,781.55, representing a 0.13 per cent gain as investors returned from the New Year holiday break. The Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also edged higher by 0.96 points to settle at 4,648.13, though the year-to-date increase stood at just 0.02 per cent in the first trading session.<\/p>\n

By the following Monday, the benchmark GSE Composite Index (GSE-CI) climbed to 7,005.69 points, representing a Year-To-Date (YTD) return of 43.31%. The Financial Stocks Index (GSE-FSI) also inched up by 0.38 points to 3,428.53, translating into a YTD return of 44.01%. Market capitalisation ended the trading session GHS139.62 million higher, closing at GHS146.27 billion, as investor sentiment appeared buoyant.<\/p>\n

The modest opening reflects cautious optimism among investors as they assess Ghana\u2019s economic trajectory following the exchange\u2019s spectacular 2025 performance, when it emerged as Africa\u2019s best-performing equity market with a remarkable 79.4 per cent annual return.<\/p>\n

The December 2025 listing of the 30-year-old First Atlantic Bank (FAB) takes some credit for this renewed market exuberance on the back of the incredible work of the leadership of the bourse over the last three to five years under the stewardship of Ms Abena Amoah. The FAB listing presented a rare and resounding signal of liquidity for West African private equity as PCM Capital Partners (\u201cPCP\u201d) completed its full exit from FAB.\u00a0This was executed via the FAB IPO on the\u00a0Ghana Stock Exchange at a time when frontier market investors are hungry for proof that the \u201cprivate-to-public\u201d pipeline remains viable in the region.<\/p>\n

The offering was met with robust demand, finishing oversubscribed despite a global environment where emerging market listings have faced significant scrutiny.\u00a0The exit marked the fourth successful liquidation for PCP\u2019s maiden fund, the\u00a0West Africa Emerging Markets Growth Fund (WAEMGF).<\/p>\n

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\"Mergers
Kwabena Asafu-Adjei, Principal and Mawuli Ababio, Managing Partner of PCP<\/em>
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Equities on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange rose modestly on Wednesday, January 7th, with banks extending recent gains as investors focused on a small number of liquid counters while bond trading continued to absorb the bulk of market value. Total equity turnover reached 4.47bn\/-, with 2.24 million shares changing hands across 2,836 deals, reflecting steady participation early in the year. Trading activity was reinforced by strong demand in the bond market, where government and corporate securities worth 18.81bn\/- were exchanged, underscoring investors\u2019 continued appetite for fixed-income instruments.<\/p>\n

Zambia\u2019s stock market emerged as one of the\u00a0best-performing globally\u00a0so far this year, as a copper-price boom and stronger growth expectations lifted the Lusaka Securities Exchange (LuSE) to the top of African equity returns.<\/p>\n

The benchmark index climbed 17% in dollar terms since the turn of the year, propelled by record copper prices that have boosted mining sector earnings\u2014and investor appetite for Zambian assets. Higher metal revenues have underpinned broader confidence in the country\u2019s economic trajectory, supporting expectations of faster GDP growth.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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On January 5, 2026, we woke up to the new year message that Africa\u2019s largest fintech\u00a0Flutterwave has acquired Nigerian open banking startup\u00a0Mono\u00a0in an all-stock deal valued between $25 million and $40 million. The acquisition brings together two of Africa\u2019s leading fintech infrastructure companies. Flutterwave operates one of the continent\u2019s widest payments networks, while Mono, often [\u2026]<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":117512,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17739,12,14288,2128,17740,1883,477,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-117511","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-acquisitions","category-business","category-eric-osiakwan","category-hp-opinion-1","category-mergers","category-national","category-opinion","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117511","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=117511"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/117511\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/117512"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=117511"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=117511"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=117511"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}