Cross-Continental African Tech Ventures – Africa.com

Eric Osiakwan 

On January 29, 2025, Nigerian remittance fintech LemFi announced the acquisition of  Irish currency exchange platform Buttercrane in a strategic move to expand its services  across Europe. The deal, approved by the Central Bank of Ireland, grants LemFi an Irish  license, allowing it to operate in the European Economic Area (EEA).¹ This is not LemFi’s  first foray into the European market. In 2021, the company secured a UK license by  acquiring RightCard, a dynamic London-based fintech founded in 2014. LemFi also  partnered with Dutch firm Modulr Finance to begin operations in Europe while waiting  for the Irish regulatory approval. With this new license, LemFi can now expand  seamlessly across Europe, using a system called “passporting,” which enables  financial institutions to operate in other EEA member states beyond their primary  licensing country. 

LemFi is one of the poster children of a new generation of Cross-Continental African  Tech Ventures founded by entrepreneurs who dream about global reach and domination. To the new kids on the block, conquering Africa is not enough. They defy old stereotypes and see themselves in the same class of global entrepreneurs who  have built the Ubers, AirBnBs, Facebooks, Glovos, etc of this world. Ridwan Olalere and  Rian Cochran co-founded LemFi during COVID in 2020 with a goal of becoming a key player in the remittance market for emerging economies in Africa, Asia, Europe and  Latin America. The company now has over one million active users. In mid January,  LemFi raised $53 million in a Series B funding round. 

Lemfi founders in a Tech Crunch report  

Nigerian mobility fintech, Moove, another poster child, acquired Brazilian car rental startup Kovi, marking a major step in its expansion into Latin America. This strategic  acquisition strengthens Moove’s global presence as it continues to scale its vehicle financing and fleet management services.² The completion of the Kovi takeover is subject to approval from Brazil’s antitrust authority. Kovi will continue operating under  its existing brand name, and its executive and management teams will remain  unchanged. Also founded in 2020 during COVID by two cross-continental founders,  Ladi Delano and Jide Odunsi, Moove has positioned itself as a key player in the global  mobility marketplace by providing vehicle financing solutions for ride-hailing platforms  through its Drive-to-Own product, as well as taxi and autonomous vehicle services. The  company raised $100 million in a Series B funding round last year and, with this  acquisition, now boasts a global fleet of 36,000 vehicles, $275 million in annual  revenue, and operations in 19 cities across six continents. Moove has also been  expanding into the U.S. through a recently announced partnership with Waymo,  Google’s autonomous vehicle subsidiary. 

Moove founders with the founder of Kovi  

Flutterwave is the third example, whose global reach saw a notable increase, with 48%  of businesses using its platform receiving payments from new geographic locations—a  12% rise from 2023. Founded in 2016 by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Olugbenga Agboola, and  Adeleke Adekoya with headquarters in the U.S. and to some extent Nigeria. The  company expanded its operations to Canada, Rwanda, Ghana, Uganda, Zambia, Kenya,  and Mozambique, bringing its total presence to over 35 countries. Additionally,  Flutterwave now supports more than 150 currencies, enabling seamless cross-border  transactions for its users. Flutterwave achieved significant milestones in the United  States, acquiring 31 additional money transfer licenses and launching its Send App in  49 states. These developments have strengthened its ability to serve the African  diaspora and global customers as a cross-continental African Tech Venture.³ 

In 2023, Ugandan fintech, Asaak entered Mexico by acquiring a subsidiary of FlexClub,  which provides mobility financing and car loans to drivers. Founded in  2016, Asaak offers motorcycle and smartphone loans to Ugandans individually and  through partners like SafeBoda. After becoming profitable on the back of its program  that purchased motorcycles for boda boda (motorcycle taxi) drivers in Uganda, Asaak  began to consider options for expansion said Kaivan Sattar, CEO and Founder.⁴ 

In February 2021, South Africa’s digital bank, TymeBank, entered the Philippines market via a partnership with the Gokongwei Group/JG Summit Holdings. This was after it  announced its US$110 million Series B capital raise for expansion across ASEAN,  starting with the Philippines.⁵ 

In January 2020, Nigeria’s foremost fintech Paga, a mobile money service provider,  announced the acquisition of its Ethiopian partner, Apposit, to enter the Ethiopian  market and also announced the expansion of its services to Mexico that year.⁶ That  represented an expansion into the rest of Africa and Latin America simultaneously.  These moves came a little over a year after Paga raised a US$10 million Series B round.⁷ 

Emeka Ajene of Afridigest Intelligence described this phenomenon of African tech  ventures expanding into the global south as an “Emerging market to Emerging market”  expansion (E2E). Emeka argues that the old expansion model of going into other African  markets is giving way to this new model of expanding into the global south and, to some  extent, the rest of the world.⁸ 

The new cross continental expansion model is not a one-way street – it goes in both  directions. An equally exciting phenomenon is Latin American tech firms expanding into  Africa over the last five years. When dLocal, a fintech from Uruguay announced its  expansion to Ghana, Kenya, Cameroun and Senegal in 2020, Adebiyi Aromolaran, Head  of Expansion described Africa as “a tremendous untapped e-commerce opportunity,”  with “huge potential for growth and an under 40% penetration rate.” When Brazil’s  EBANX announced its African entry last September, CEO and co-founder, João Del  Valle pointed out that the decision was supported by the fact that “Africa’s fast-growing  digital economy is only in its early days, and it’s projected to grow up and to the right for  the next few decades.”⁹ 

This cross continental E2E expansion model will provide opportunities to savy founders  from Africa and elsewhere to expand their global footprint and reach new consumers  across the globe.