Onafriq
“Can a single 'network of networks' interconnect every mobile wallet, bank account, card and agent across Africa — and bridge them to global rails like Visa, stablecoins, and remittances?”
Founded2009
HQJohannesburg, South Africa (with London, UK office at 51 Eastcheap)
FoundersDare Okoudjou
Total raised$217.7M
Latest roundSeries C, 2021
IndustryInfrastructure / Payments
The story
Founded 2009 as MFS Africa, a mobile money switch interconnecting carrier wallets. Expanded via acquisitions (Baxi/Capricorn agency banking in Nigeria, Beyonic) into a full omnichannel payments network spanning wallets, bank accounts, cards and agents. Rebranded to Onafriq in 2023 to reflect the broader 'network of networks' positioning. Now pushing into card issuing/processing (Visa Pay DRC) and stablecoin rails (Circle partnership) — positioning as the connective tissue between African mobile money and the global financial system.
Last 12 months
Product timeline
2009
Founded as MFS Africa, a mobile money switch interconnecting African mobile wallets· pivot
2018
Series B led by LUN Partners — first African fintech backed by the China-based group· funding
2021
$100M Series C (equity + debt) led by AfricInvest, Goodwell, LUN Partners· funding
2022
Joined PAPSS (Pan-African Payment and Settlement System)· banking
2022
Acquired Capricorn Digital / Baxi, Nigerian super-agent network· acquisition
2023
Rebranded from MFS Africa to Onafriq· pivot
2024
Onafriq turns 15: ~1B mobile money wallets and 500M bank accounts connected· banking
2025
Partnership with Visa to launch Visa Pay in DRC (card↔mobile money interop)· card
2025
Partnership with Circle on stablecoin-enabled payment networks· pivot
Regulated entities
3
regulatory licences held by Onafriq
Licence types, jurisdictions and registered entities are in the Embedded Finance Index report.
The stack
5 layers disclosed in Onafriq’s embedded-finance stack
Payments / PSP
Onafriq Collections (self-operated)Onafriq Card Collections API (self-operated)Onafriq Mobile Collections API (self-operated)Visa Pay (Onafriq + Visa, self-operated PaaS in DRC)
Banking / BaaS
in the full report
Card issuing
in the full report
FX & payouts
in the full report
Crypto
in the full report
Accounting gap: none
4 more providers across 4 layers, with confidence-scored evidence and source URLs, are in the Embedded Finance Index report.