“Can a Nigerian e-commerce marketplace become the payments and digital banking rail for African trade?”
Founded in 2012 as a Nigerian e-commerce marketplace competing with Jumia, Konga pivoted deeper into embedded finance after being acquired by Zinox Group in 2018. KongaPay, launched in 2016 as an escrow tool tied to the checkout, has since been rebranded as a standalone digital banking platform offering savings, POS, invoicing, and cross-border payments to individuals and SMEs. The strategic bet is that KongaPay becomes the payments and banking layer for African commerce, with the marketplace and logistics arms as its distribution channels.
Konga Group discloses KongaPay (in-house) as its banking provider, according to the Embedded Finance Index 2026.
Konga Group does not disclose a bank charter of its own; its banking services are provided through KongaPay (in-house).
Konga Group processes payments through KongaPay (self-operated).
Konga Group's lending and capital products are provided by Konga Merchant Loans (in-house).
The Embedded Finance Index 2026 maps 3 layers in Konga Group's stack: Payments / PSP (KongaPay (self-operated)); Banking / BaaS (KongaPay (in-house)); Lending (Konga Merchant Loans (in-house), Soft loans for Konga marketplace merchants and Credit facilities for sellers).
Konga Group was founded by Sim Shagaya and is founded in 2012, headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria.
Konga Group has raised $79.5M in total (latest round: Acquired by Zinox Group (2018)).
Konga Group's acquisitions include Yudala (2018).
Get a read on where your own stack stands against Konga Group and the rest of its category — what they built versus bought, which providers they use, and where the gaps in your own strategy and competitive set actually are.