The Competition Authority of Kenya (CAK) has approved a proposed acquisition by Moniepoint Inc. of a 78 percent stake in Sumac Microfinance Bank.
This deal is coming five months after Moniepoint’s earlier attempt to buy payments firm KopoKopo fell through.
In August 2024, the Competition Authority of Kenya approved Moniepoint’s planned acquisition of KopoKopo, a local fintech that provides credit to small businesses. However, the deal collapsed shortly after, with neither party disclosing the reasons.
“As per the parties’ submissions, this transaction will not result in negative public interest issues. Specifically, there will be no employment loss, and all the current employees will be retained under current terms,” CAK said in a statement, Monday.
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“Premised on the above, the authority approved the proposed acquisition of 78 percent shareholding of Sumac Microfinance Bank Limited by Moniepoint Inc. unconditionally.”
The deal, still subject to approval by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK), would give Moniepoint a foothold in Kenya’s mobile payments market, estimated to be $67.3 billion (KES 8.7 trillion).
Sumac, Founded in 2002 as a small investment group, has evolved into a licensed microfinance bank offering services ranging from SME loans and deposits to money transfers and forex trading. With $8.1 million (KES 1.05 billion) in assets and 43,800 active loan accounts, Sumac is currently classified by the CBK as a medium-sized microfinance bank, holding an estimated 2.8 percent share of the microfinance market.
It opened to the public in 2004 under the name Sumac Credit, which was targeting business owners that were shut out by traditional banks. After a decade, it secured a microfinance banking licence from the Central Bank of Kenya.
Moniepoint has no base in Kenya but is registered in the U.S. and has a presence in the U.K. Founded by Tosin Eniolorunda and Felix Ike in 2015, the firm is primarily based in Nigeria.
